AFRICA – The first intra-African trade transaction through blockchain technology worth US$270 million has just been successfully completed between Morocco and Ethiopia, according to the Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP), one of the world’s leading phosphates fertilizer suppliers.
The first of its kind in Africa, the transaction involving the export of fertilizers from Morocco to Ethiopia was carried out thanks to the collaboration between Dltledgers, a company specializing in the digitization of trade and the Bank of Commerce and Development of East and Southern Africa (TDB).
“Dltledgers made available its technology allowing the transaction to be carried out digitally and the import-export process to be concluded in less than 2 hours against” paper “transactions which are rather finalized in 3 weeks or more because of the processes time-consuming transfer of physical documents via the traditional banking system,” read part of a statement released by Dltledgers.
For its part, TDB is responsible for providing the necessary funds to allow Ethiopia to import the fertilizers it needs to increase its agricultural production in the face of growing demand from its population, the second largest on the continent. African.
In the coming months, the OCP says it wants to increase its total trade transactions with Ethiopia to US$400 million.
“This initiative is part of the Group’s digitalization strategy aimed at contributing in particular to reducing the trade finance gap in Africa and stimulating intra-African trade, in particular in the fertilizer sector, through the inclusion of digital,” indicates the Moroccan group.
In Ethiopia, OCP is working with state-owned Chemical Industries Corporation (CIC) to build a fertilizer production complex in Dire Dawa with a production capacity of 2.5 million tonnes per year.
Ethiopia currently imports half of its fertilizers from Morocco, and agriculture plays a vital role in the country’s economy. It represents 31% of the country’s GDP and 66% of its labor market.
The OCP Group thus becomes the first African company to execute an intra-African commercial transaction using blockchain technology in the African agricultural sector.
