Malawi pledges support on regional tea market
Malawi Government has pledged its support to the tea industry on its plans to develop the Limbe Tea Auction into a regional tea market hub for neighbouring Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
The three countries have already expressed interest to market their tea through the Malawi market located at Kidney Crescent in Blantyre which has been operational since 1970.
The plans to establish a regional tea market come months after President Joyce Banda, during the opening of the 2013/14 budget meeting of Parliament, announced that government will set up the ‘first ever’ tea auction in Malawi, a move that surprised industry players because the auction is already there.
Minister of Industry and Trade Sosten Gwengwe, speaking at the recent opening of the Charity Tea Auction in Blantyre, a biannual event organised by the Tea Association of Malawi (Taml), Tea and Coffee Merchants Association and Brokers, drew parallels with what is happening in Botswana with its mineral resources, particularly diamond.
“This is what Botswana has done with her diamonds which were initially traded in London but are now being traded in Gaborone and the benefits are quite phenomenal,” he said.
Chairperson of Taml, Sangwani Hara, confirmed that discussions with government are underway and that a task force was formed to speed up the process of setting up a regional tea market.
“With the setting up of the regional market, the number of buyers will increase, demand for tea will also increase which will eventually boost production,” he said, but could not indicate when the market will be operational.
Currently, the tea industry has a two-tier marketing system, primary and secondary with the former dealing with the trading of green leaf from smallholders while the latter involving the trading of made tea known as black tea which is eventually sold at Mombasa Tea Auction in Kenya.
