ACFEX director of development Cris Muyunda said Zambia and Malawi are the first countries to be recruited by the organisation.
Dr Muyunda said this in response to a query.
ACFEX will work with the public and donor sectors to promote agri-business in Africa.
Dr Muyunda said ACFEX has since signed two memoranda of understanding (MoU) with Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) and Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) to facilitate the development.
“Other key players recruited to trade on the platform include the Women in Agribusiness in sub-Saharan Africa (WASAA), the United Nations Association in Zambia and the Cassava Association of Zambia,” he said.
Dr Muyunda said ACFEX has received support from various stakeholders and this will enhance the exchange’s efficiency in the promotion of trade in agriculture commodities in the region.
“ACFEX recently signed a MoU with Ecobank Zambia to collaborate on the financing of warehouse receipts for small-scale farmers who do not have access to finance and other services,” he said.
He said other financial institutions and private equity companies are interested in commodity trading and financing.
He said ACFEX will ensure efficiency in the provision of commodity trade information to enable players’ trade effectively.
Dr Muyunda said the exchange will provide finance during post-harvest time when the commodity prices are low, putting farmers under pressure.
“This helps farmers not to incur losses, hence invest more money to improve production. Through the futures market, farmers can see the future prices and determine which crop they can plant to reduce food shortages,” he said.
