LONDON – The 1st African Coffee Symposium and the 53th Annual General Assembly of the InterAfrican Coffee Organization (IACO) took place in Lomé, Togo from 18 to 22 November 2013 on the theme of ‘Sustainability of African coffee industry’.
The Opening Ceremony was chaired by Mrs Bernadette Balouki-Legzim, Minister of Trade and Private Sector Promotion, Togo, accompanied by Mr Octave Nicoué Broohm, Minister of Higher Education, who represented the President of Togo.
The Secretary-General of IACO, Mr Frederick Kawuma, opened the proceedings and the ICO Head of Operations, Mr Mauricio Galindo delivered a message on behalf of the Executive Director, Mr Roberio Silva, inviting the Secretary-General to expand membership of IACO to other African countries such as South Africa and Egypt that are non-coffee producing countries but have great potential for coffee consumption.
The ICO Chief Economist, Mr Denis Seudieu, made a presentation on the outlook for the world coffee market.
The 1st African Coffee Symposium analysed challenges facing the sector and the need for continued international cooperation to ensure a sustainable coffee economy. IACO has 25 Member states, representing 12% of world coffee production.
Source: ICO
