Tanzania has launched an online tea auction in a move aimed at boosting farmers’ earnings and increasing the value of its tea on the global market.
In a move that will have a significant impact on neighbouring Kenya’s Mombasa Tea Auction, Tanzania contends that the launch of its own auction system is critical in transforming the domestic industry.
The move ultimately means that the East African nation will stop exporting its tea through the port of Mombasa in Kenya, the region’s top seller.
Media outlet The Standard quoted Tea Board of Tanzania director general Mary Kipeja as saying that the tea auction would establish the country as a central hub for neighbouring tea-producing countries to trade their goods.
“Apart from minimising market costs, the tea auction is going to be a part and parcel of the implementation of the local content agenda, therefore empowering Tanzanians economically,” she said…
