The Association of Commodities Exchanges, established under the Guided Trade Initiative of the African Continental Free Trade Area, comprises 16 national and regional Exchanges. The Association’s aims, amongst others, is to play a pivotal role in enhancing the commodity trade ecosystem, contribute to the advancement of regional trade, economic growth, sustainable development, and stimulate investment in Africa's agricultural and natural resources sectors. The objectives of the Association are multifaceted, with a focus on piloting cross-border trade mechanisms between different African markets, exploring exchange-intermediated pan-African supply and procurement strategies, facilitating regional price discovery, creating pan-African markets, establishing efficient single-window trade gateways, and advocating for policy and legal reforms to unlock rapid intra-Africa trade growth through Commodity Exchanges.
Meeting held by the Association and facilitated by Consultant Adam Gross on cross-border trading, inclusive of identification of priority commodities, participating Countries/Exchanges, and trading mechanisms, with a primary aim to achieve at least one regional trade in 2024.
Chair, A-ACX Steering Committee, Mrs. Tucci Ivowi, contributed to discussions at the World Cocoa Conference on the establishment of an African Cocoa Exchange, which will play a pivotal role in enhancing the cocoa industry's efficiency and sustainability across the continent.
Chair of the Steering Committee of the Association, Mrs. Tucci Ivowi, represented A-ACX at a dedicated session of the AfCFTA Committee on Trade in Goods and the Sub-Committee on Rules of Origin. Consequently, the A-ACX has attained official recognition within AfCFTA's framework with observer status granted at AfCFTA gatherings.
Memorandum of Understanding signed between Member Exchanges on the establishment of the Association, at the Intra-Africa Trade Fair (IATF 2023).
Maiden Forum of Heads of African Commodities Exchanges and associated entities convened towards the establishment of an Association of African Commodities Exchanges under the auspices of AfCFTA
Agricultural Commodity Exchange for Africa is a commodity exchange and Warehouse Receipt System operating in Malawi. The Exchange has facilitated finance of over $22m to SME's for agricultural produce and traded over 200,000MT of commodities.
Its available to all people, and accepts international trades, based upon an open free market system for the mutual benefit of producers and consumers.
At AFEX, we harness Africa’s commodities and talent to build shared wealth and prosperity. Since inception in 2014, we have developed and deployed a viable commodities exchange model for the African market, and are on track to impact one million producers; providing services in productivity and value capture and access to finance and markets.
By deploying an efficient market system, we will facilitate trade with Africa worth over USD500 million in the next five years.
The ARRE's mission is to regulate and control the operation of the storage receipt system, to set up a reliable and secure electronic storage receipt control system and to contribute to the definition of policy. of the State in matters of exchange and storage of goods in accordance with the objectives of the Agricultural Raw Materials Exchange.
The BRVM is a fully electronic stock exchange common to the eight (8) States of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), namely: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali , Niger, Senegal and Togo. Its mission is to:
• organize the secondary market;
• ensure the listing and trading of transferable securities;
• ensure the dissemination of stock market information;
• promote market development.
EAX is a regional commodity exchange offering commodity trade services in Rwanda and East Africa Community (EAC) common markets (173 million consumers) in key staples food crops such as White Maize (WM), Beans (BS), Soya (SY), Wheat (WH), Sorghum (SG), Paddy Rice (PR), Mix Beans (MIX-BS), Tea (TEA), Yellow Maize (YM), Yellow Beans (YEL-BS), Sugar Beans (SUG-BS) and Coffee (COF).
EAX deals with high-quality grains meeting the requirements of EAC standards. Established to link smallholder farmers to agricultural and financial markets, secure competitive prices for products, and facilitate access to financing opportunities, today it is expanding its operations to trade coffee, tea, paddy rice, and minerals. The current and future trading methods consist of spot, forwards, auctions, and futures trading for not only grains in the agriculture sector but also for metals and minerals.
The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) is a new initiative for Ethiopia and the first of its kind in Africa. The vision of ECX is to revolutionize Ethiopia’s tradition bound agriculture through creating a new marketplace that serves all market actors.
The Ghana Commodity Exchange is a private company limited by shares, structured as a Public Private Partnership, with the Government of Ghana currently the sole shareholder. The aim of the exchange is to establish linkages between agricultural and commodity producers and buyers, to secure competitive prices for their products, assuring the market quantity and quality as well as timely settlement of their trade.
The JSE is a multi-asset class stock exchange that offers listings, trading clearing and settlement, information services and issuer services. Founded in 1887, the JSE is Africa’s largest stock exchange by market capitalisation. It is the 16th largest stock exchange in the world.
Our primary function is to provide facilities for the listing and trading of securities. Our role contributes to economic growth and value creation, which are critical to resolving South Africa’s challenges.
The Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) Council is a government body established to regulate and promote the warehouse receipt system in Kenya. This system enables farmers, traders, and other market players to store their agricultural produce in certified warehouses and receive a warehouse receipt as proof of ownership. These receipts can be used as collateral for loan or traded as negotiable instruments. The WRS seeks to stabilize agricultural markets, improve post-harvest management, and enhance farmers’ access to credit. Established to foster a transparent, efficient, and regulated warehouse receipt system, we provide farmers, traders, and stakeholders with innovative solutions to unlock the full potential of Kenya’s agricultural sector.
Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange is a commodities Exchange that trades on Agricultural Commodities, Currencies, Oil and Gas and Solid Mineral Commodities. It is our aim to provide transparency, price discovery, standardization and legitimisation to the Nigerian Commodities Ecosystem.
Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange is a commodities Exchange that trades on Agricultural Commodities, Currencies, Oil and Gas and Solid Mineral Commodities. It is our aim to provide transparency, price discovery, standardization and legitimisation to the Nigerian Commodities Ecosystem.
NCE is the central coffee auction which is the trading floor for Kenyan coffee. It is a non-profit organization regulated by the government. The role of the Nairobi Coffee Exchange is to provide a platform where buyers and sellers can come together to trade coffee in a transparent and efficient manner. The exchange provides a central location where buyers can inspect and sample coffee before purchasing it, and where sellers can present their coffee for sale to a wide range of buyers.
The Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX) is a self-regulatory organisation that facilitates trade of locally produced commodities for buyers, within and outside Nigeria. NCX provides an electronic marketplace that links buyers (consumers including processors and exporters) and sellers (smallholder farmers, aggregators and traders) of agricultural commodities, whilst assuring price discovery, a reliable end-to-end system for warehouse management, grading, matching orders and timely settlement of trade.
The Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX) is a self-regulatory organisation that facilitates trade of locally produced commodities for buyers, within and outside Nigeria. NCX provides an electronic marketplace that links buyers (consumers including processors and exporters) and sellers (smallholder farmers, aggregators and traders) of agricultural commodities, whilst assuring price discovery, a reliable end-to-end system for warehouse management, grading, matching orders and timely settlement of trade.
The Tanzania Mercantile Exchange (TMX) is the first commodity exchange market in Tanzania. The commodity exchange is established as a platform where farmers, traders, exporters and other various market actors are able to access domestic and global market and obtain a fair price in selling or buying of commodities.
UNCE is establised to provide market information and services to buyers and sellers of commodities by establishing and operating a commodity exchange of the highest integrity available to Ugandans as well as regional and international buyers and sellers, based upon an open and free market system for the mutual benefit of the sellers and buyers; and to facilitate the procurement of and marketing of any commodity provided or desired by any consenting parties through the auspices of the exchange.
The Warehouse Receipt System was established in Uganda in 2006 by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives. It is governed and regulated through the Warehouse Receipt System Act of 2006 (WRS Act, 2006) and regulations there of 2007.
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The Zimbabwe Mercantile Exchange (ZMX) a private limited company registered under Zimbabwe’s Companies Act & Other entities Act 2020 which operates an Electronic Warehouse Receipt System and a Commodities Trading Platform that ensures safe, secure and convenient trading and financing of commodities.
Professor Koffi N'Goran Justin, Director General of the Regulatory Authority of the Warehouse Receipt System (ARRE) of Côte d'Ivoire (ARRE), is an eminent professional and academic, with a solid background in various fields. Full professor of Universities with an aggregation in Medicine, he has acquired a variety of expertise in the fields of Development, Education, Training, Research, Health and Management. Professor Justin, currently elected General Rapporteur of the 40th Session of Working Group 1 of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) on Warehouse Receipts, held key positions, as Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Health, President of the Scientific Commission of the (COP 15), State Inspector at the Presidency of the Republic and Head of Department at the Félix Houphouët Boigny University. Member of several learned societies and regional and international organizations, his work has been rewarded with various awards and distinctions, including Officer in the National Order, the Awards of Excellence in France and Ivory Coast, demonstrating his devotion and commitment to his country and African integration.
Collen Tapfumaneyi is Founder of Escrow Group, a fintech group comprising Financial Securities Exchange (FINSEC); Corpserve Registrars (Zimbabwe and Zambia) and EFS Registrars (Kenya) and which provides capital markets solutions across Africa. He spearheaded the implementation of C-Trade, a mobile trading platform; GEM Portal, an SME funding platform as well as introduction of exchange traded derivatives in Zimbabwe. Collen led the establishment of the Zimbabwe Mercantile Exchange that operates Zimbabwe’s commodity exchange. He spearheaded the technical implementation of a Warehouse Receipt System in Pakistan and recently led Escrow Group into a partnership with the Nairobi Securities Exchange to establish the Unquoted Securities Platform (USP) in Kenya. Collen holds an MBA; MSc Finance and ACCA DipFM. He also attended the London School of Economics training on Markets Regulation. Collen was nominated as a finalist and runner up for the CNBC-AABLA African Entrepreneur of the Year Award and in 2021 received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the Zimbabwe Capital Markets.
Akinsola Akeredolu-Ale, an astute Market Analyst and Operator, is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange, an Exchange trading Agricultural, Oil and Gas, Solid Metals/Minerals Commodities and Currency. He has over 30 years of experience in wealth and assets management, private banking, stockbroking, marketing, financial restructuring/re-engineering, project finance and capital formation in the capital and money markets. As one dedicated to service, he served as the Coordinator, Financing Mechanism for The National Integrated infrastructure Master Plan from 2017 to 2020. He also served in the Technical Committee for the Emerging Capital Markets Task Force, UK (ECMT) tasked with setting up an operational and legal framework to facilitate emerging markets, with special attention on Nigeria. Akinsola is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers and an Associate Member of The Nigerian Institute of Management.
Godfrey Malekano is the founder CEO of Tanzania Mercantile Exchange PLC. Before joining TMX, Mr. Malekano served as a Director of Market Supervision and Market Development of Capital Markets and Securities Authority. Prior to that Mr. Malekano served as Senior Bank Supervisor with the Bank of Tanzania responsible for supervising commercial and non-banking financial institution. He has worked as Examiner In charge responsible for leading banking examination assignments. In early years of his career Mr. Malekano worked as Quality Control Inspector and later as Assistant Export Manager with Olam (T) Limited. Mr. Malekano has vast experience and knowledge of macro-economics, banks, securities, commodity market subsector, finance, regulatory frameworks, market integration and monetary policies. He has undergone various training on securities, banks, finance and accounting in leading economies such as USA and UK. Mr. Malekano is certified Public Accountant. He holds Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Commerce and Management. He is Member of the Board of one of the leading bank in Tanzania. He also serves as a Council Member of one of the public University. He has served as a member of market Development and supervision committee of East Africa Regulatory Authorities. He served at the same capacity with East and southern Africa securities, insurance and pension regulatory authorities body. He has served in several high level Government Task Forces.
Yaa Oforiwa Obeng has excelled in various roles as an accomplished individual with a diverse and extensive background. She hitherto worked in the Office of the CEO at the Ghana Commodity Exchange and is now a Legal and Compliance Officer at the Exchange. Having aided in setting up the Secretariat of the A-ACX, Oforiwa wields a unique administrative acumen as a Secretary to the Steering Committee of the Association. She possesses significant legal knowledge and a strong commitment to fostering collaborative initiatives, making her a valuable asset in any professional setting.
She holds a BA in Political Science and English from the University of Ghana, LLB from the University of Professional Studies, MSc. in Defence and International Politics from the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College and is currently an LLM student in Corporate and Commercial Law at the University of Ghana.
In October 2023, Heads of African Commodities Exchanges and associated entities were convened by the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX) in collaboration with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and with support from the World Food Program (WFP) Ghana towards the establishment of an Association of African Commodities Exchanges under the auspices of AfCFTA (AfCFTA-ACX)(A-ACX). The A-ACX has since then attained official recognition within AfCFTA's framework as an MOU was signed by members in November 2023 at the Intra-Africa Trade Fair (IATF) in Cairo, Egypt. The A-ACX, established under the Guided Trade Initiative of the African Continental Free Trade Area, comprises 17 national and regional African commodity exchanges. The Association’s aims, amongst others, is to play a pivotal role in enhancing the commodity trade ecosystem, to contribute to the advancement of regional trade, economic growth, and sustainable development, and to stimulate investment in Africa's agricultural and natural resources sectors. As African markets continue to feel the consequences of successive global shocks, COVID-19 and the Russia/Ukraine conflict, mechanisms for sustainably scaling intra-African trade are more important than ever to help address the Continent’s critical resilience imperative. It is our collective view that Africa’s commodity exchanges offer a unique value proposition to the realization of the AfCFTA vision and Africa’s economic integration agenda more broadly – the capacity to structure inclusive, formal, transparent, reliable and well-regulated trading relationships across the Continent’s borders through providing the price and market information, setting the standards, storing and certifying the physical commodities, matching the transactions, facilitating the finance, mitigating the risk, and settling the obligations from Africa cross-border trade, sustainably at scale. In this light, the objectives of the Association are multifaceted, with a focus on piloting cross-border trade mechanisms between different African markets, exploring exchange-intermediated pan-African supply and procurement strategies, facilitating regional price discovery, creating pan-African markets, establishing efficient single-window trade gateways and advocating for policy and legal reforms to unlock rapid intra-Africa trade growth through commodity exchanges.
Six Members of A-ACX, represented by their CEOs/MDs, were in Cairo, Egypt for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of the Association, at the Intra-Africa Trade Fair 2023 (IATF’23), marking a significant step towards a more integrated and collaborative African Commodities Exchange landscape, poised to influence regional and global trade positively. They representatives were in the persons of; Mr. Ayodeji Balogun, AFEX Commodities Exchange – Nigeria, Mr. Kristian Moller, Agricultural Commodities Exchange for Africa – Malawi, Mrs. Tucci Ivowi, Ghana Commodity Exchange – Ghana, Mr. Akin Akeredolu-Ale, Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange – Nigeria, Prof. Justin N’Goran Koffi, Regulatory Authority of the Warehouse Receipt System – Cote D’Ivoire and Mr. Collen Tapfumaneyi, Zimbabwe Mercantile Exchange – Zimbabwe. Also present were Mr. Mohamed Ali, Director of Trade in Goods and Competition of the African Continental Free Trade Area, Dr. Hermogene Nsengimana, Secretary General of the African Regional Standards Organization (ARSO) and Mr. Collins Wafula, Regional Coordinator Africa and Arab States International Standards Organization (ISO).
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, 27 March 2025 – African trade reaches new heights with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the umbrella of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Association of Commodity Exchanges (A-ACX) on 26 March 2025, at the second A-ACX Conference in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
This achievement brings together four commodity exchanges in Eastern and Southern Africa: The Agricultural Commodity Exchange for Africa (ACE Africa) in Malawi, the Tanzania Mercantile Exchange (TMX), the Zambian Agricultural Commodity Exchanges (ZAMACE), and the Zimbabwe Mercantile Exchange (ZMX). The MoU shows a commitment of the exchanges to establish a common framework for collaboration, while they will maintain the respective operational independence.
This is a significant step towards boosting regional trade, leveraging each commodity exchange’s expertise to foster collaboration and boost market efficiency. The A-ACX will also work towards improving price discovery, increasing market liquidity, creating broader opportunities for farmers and traders, boosting cross-border trade in Eastern and Southern Africa, and reducing price volatility. Beyond market dynamics, it will contribute to food security across the region.
Kristian Schach Moller, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ACE Africa, commented on this milestone: “ACE is excited with this development as it will give Malawian farmers and traders an easy modality to export. Simply deposit commodities at a certified warehouse in Malawi, and buyers on all the exchanges can see and buy them”.
To facilitate cross-border transactions, the exchanges seek to leverage the Pan-African Payment & Settlement System (PAPSS). This allows for instant and secure payments in local currency, providing an opportunity for all market players to access new African markets.
Jacob Mwale, CEO of ZAMACE, stated: “structured markets, such as ZAMACE, provides an efficient trading platform, transparent pricing, and reliable market information, which are essential for connecting farmers to broader markets. This collaboration gives opportunities to Zambian small-scale farmers to expand their reach beyond local boundaries.”
Collen Tapfumaneyi, CEO of ZMX, added: "This collaboration marks a pivotal moment for Zimbabwe's agricultural sector, as it opens up new avenues for our farmers to access regional markets. By working together, we can unlock the full potential of our commodity markets and contribute significantly to the economic growth of the region."
Godfrey Malekano, CEO of TMX, further commented, “This collaboration will play a pivotal role in addressing quality and standards challenges for the needed commodities in the market, while also fostering greater trust in the Exchange’s platforms among farmers (sellers) and traders. By leveraging the commodity exchanges, the aim is to unlock more opportunities for a wide range of service providers across the value chains, driving growth and efficiency in the agricultural sector through trade.”
Tucci Ivowi, A-ACX Chairperson, reflected on this landmark in regional trade and collaboration: "This is an exciting moment for Africa’s commodity markets! The signing of this MoU demonstrates our commitment to real action—breaking barriers, enhancing market access, and driving intra-African trade. We are building a stronger, more integrated market that benefits farmers, traders, and economies across the continent. This is just the beginning, and I look forward to seeing more exchanges join this movement."
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The Association of Commodities Exchanges, established under the Guided Trade Initiative of the African Continental Free Trade Area, comprises 16 national and regional Exchanges
