Biruk Girma
6 April 2008
Addis Ababa — So much has been said and done of the Ethiopian farmers, consumers and the market where they meet to trade, including the hustle and bustle in the process, but the Commodity Exchange is one that will revolutionalize the way people trade, for the benefit of farmers, traders and consumers.
The Commodity Exchange, ECX, for short, is a newly set-up independent power house with vital data and information on commodities, selling prices and all there is to know on the dynamics of markets, to stabilize their volatility.
A two-day national forum kicked off yesterday at the UNCC in the presence of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi where a corner stone for Ethiopian market operations was laid as ECX marked an important transition.
Being as a market place where buyers and sellers come together to trade, assured of quality, delivery and payment, ECX is a national multi-commodity exchange that provides market integrity, enhances market efficiency, enables market transparency and allows risk management.
In a bid to solve the complex nature of the country's commodity exchange, the government started activities to establish a modern market system two years back.
Using the technical and managerial support from the International Food Policy Research Institution (IFPRI), a task force of stakeholders has been established and an intensive analysis, design and building, were made for the last 18 months in the body's efforts of translating dream in to reality.
"Today, we are here to witness the realization of that dream, even as it is unfolding we mark the transition from a period of 18 months during which we have intensively been engaged in analysis, design and building" said Dr. Eleni Z. Gabre-Medhin, ECX Chief Executive Officer at the first day of the national forum.
Prime Minister Meles on his opening remarks at the forum praised the transition saying as "a new chapter has opened." Meles pointed out the remarkable significance of the modern commodity exchange for the county stressing the country's current effort to change the "hand to mouth" production of the majority of the country's farmers.
According to government officials, in the first phase, ECX will cover six target commodities, selected in terms of their importance to coffee, sesame, pea bean, teff, wheat and maize.
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