The new agricultural commodities exchange for Ivory Coast will launch operations by listing raw cashew nuts, kola nuts and maize late next month, its chief executive said on Tuesday.
The commodity exchange, which is housed in a regional securities exchange, was established to provide a transparent market for goods whose transactions are now directly negotiated between buyers and sellers.
“The agricultural commodities exchange will provide a price benchmark that serves as a basis for negotiating national and international commercial contracts,” Edoh Kossi Amenounve, head of West Africa’s BRVM bourse said.
The exchange also expects to eventually list natural rubber and palm oil, but has not indicated any plans for Ivory Coast’s top export, cocoa, which is traded on international markets.
Ivory Coast’s government has also started to build new warehouses in response to a crippling lack of storage facilities that has limited producers’ access to financing, Amenounve said.
