NAIROBI, Kenya – Kenya will this year begin to automate trading at its weekly tea auction of regional produce to increase transparency in dealings, the chairman of the East African Tea Traders Association (EATTA), which runs the sale, said on Wednesday. According to The Africa Report, Kenya hosts the world’s biggest tea auction, selling produce from nine African nations, including from Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Malawi and Mozambique.
EATTA has 200 members drawn from growers, buyers, warehouse operators and brokers from regional African nations. Ethiopia is due to join in March.
Complete automation of the auction would be completed in 2017 but the first phase would be in place this year, said EATTA Chairman Nick Munyi.
Automating the auction would cost $1.3 million, Munyi said, adding it would be funded by Trade Mark East Africa, an organisation that supports trade in the region.
