TanTrade secures five new export markets for maize

Dar es Salaam. Maize farmers in the county have a reason to smile after the Tanzania Trade Development Authority (TanTrade) secured new export markets in Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, DR Congo and the Comoros.

Businesspeople in the country have therefore been asked to prepare themselves to grab the opportunity, not only for maize but also other cereal crops.

TanTrade director general Edwin Rutageruka delivered the good news at the weekend during a cereals stakeholders’ meeting held in Dar es Salaam.

He said that through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East Africa Cooperation, the authority has received a request from the private sector in Rwanda for the purchase 102,000 tonnes of maize during the 2019 season.

In addition to that, there is demand for 100,000 tonnes of maize in Burundi, 3,000 tonnes in Zambia and 3,000 tonnes in the Comoros.

Mr Rutageruka added that members of the private sector from Rwanda are ready to visit Tanzania and meet with various traders dealing in cereals, including maize.

“As the government, we rely on the cereals board of cereals, but mostly it is private sector, so it better for everyone to determine their capacity so that we can allow buyers from Rwanda to come here,” he said.

He advised traders to send their maize to warehouses to make it easier for buyers to access the cereal.

For his part, the Program Officer from the Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC), Mr Junior Ndesanjo, thanked the authority for providing information about new markets.