"Somalia and Djibouti are the main countries in which we export our bananas. But we want expand to Europe and the Arab countries as well". So said Andualem Mara (see second video) of Omotic Trading Group, an Ethiopian company with 40 hectares of banana and papaya production.
"We produce organic bananas - he continues - and we believe they can find a market beyond the local one, in Somalia and Djibouti. This is why we will participate in Macfrut: to meet potential customers and to look for technologies useful to our processes as well".
In recent days a mission took place to present the international fruit and vegetable fair in Angola, in the capital Luanda, and in Ethiopia, in Addis Ababa and in the city of Arba Minch. The initiative, organized by AEFI in collaboration with Ice Agency, is part of a structured project focused on the African continent.
The goal is to promote the spread of Italian technologies to support the development of the agricultural sector of the two countries, as well as to bring African companies to the next edition of Macfrut at the Fiera in Rimini (from Tuesday 5 to Thursday 7 May 2020).
The Macfrut 2020 edition, in fact, will put the African continent to the fore, housed in a special pavilion, as already happened in the 2019 edition, when 14 countries were present for a total of 150 exhibitors. Angola and Ethiopia, focus of the recent mission, will be present as well in this large area.
Together with the president of Macfrut, Renzo Piraccini, about ten companies from the sector took part: Agricola Italiana, Coviro, Idromeccanica Lucchini, Vivai Battistini, Turatti Group, Ferrari Costruzioni Meccaniche, Tropical Food Machinery, Consorzio Cermac, Suba Seeds, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. The mission saw a Macfrut presentation event, business meetings with operators and company visits.
"Africa is a strategic area for Macfrut, as it is a continent that needs to develop the fruit and vegetable sector - explains Renzo Piraccini - For this reason, Italian technologies and packaging are key. Let's take Angola: it cultivates only 4% of the land available and imports over 3 billion dollars of agricultural products each year, a real nonsense considering that there is a large supply of water and fertile land, giving the idea of the great opportunities available to Italian companies in that area".
Contacts:
Cesena Fiera
Via Dismano 3845
47522 Cesena (FC) - Italy
Tel.: +39 0547 317435
Fax: +39 0547 318431
Email: info@macfruit.com
Web: www.macfrut.com