Lagos, Nigeria
Abbreviation
AFEX
Location
Lagos, Nigeria
Region
Africa
Group
Africa Exchange Holdings
Product Types
Agricultural
AFEX Commodities Exchange Limited (AFEX), operated by Africa Exchange Holdings, is a private sector-led agricultural commodity exchange with operations across Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Cameroon. Founded in 2014, AFEX runs a tech-enabled commodity trading platform focused on agri-commodities including maize, soybean, rice, and cashews. AFEX provides farmers with access to markets, storage infrastructure, and agricultural finance through its warehousing and commodity-backed financing solutions across West and East Africa.
The Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) is Kenya's primary auction market for specialty coffee, operating under the Kenya Coffee Traders Association and the Nairobi Coffee Exchange Act. NCE conducts weekly Tuesday auctions in which buyers bid for certified lots of Kenyan arabica coffee, graded and described by Kenya's Coffee Board grading system (AA, AB, C, PB, and others). Kenya is world-renowned for producing some of the finest washed arabica coffees, and the NCE auction system determines the global benchmark prices for Kenyan specialty coffee.
The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX), established in 2008 by the Ethiopian government, was Africa's first regulated multi-commodity exchange and a transformative initiative designed to modernise agricultural market infrastructure. ECX provides transparent, rules-based trading for coffee, sesame, maize, wheat, and haricot beans. As Ethiopia is the birthplace of arabica coffee and a top global coffee producer, ECX plays a critical role in price discovery and export logistics for specialty Ethiopian coffees, benefiting millions of smallholder farmers.
The Agricultural Commodity Exchange for Africa (ACE), founded in 2004 and headquartered in Lilongwe, Malawi, pioneered electronic commodity exchange infrastructure for southern Africa. ACE facilitates transparent spot trading for maize, soybean, groundnuts (peanuts), and other staple crops using a warehouse receipt system that enables smallholder farmers to access competitive prices and agricultural finance. ACE's electronic trading model has been replicated across sub-Saharan Africa as a model for commoditising smallholder agricultural production.
South African Futures Exchange (SAFEX), now the agricultural derivatives division of JSE Limited (Johannesburg Stock Exchange), is Africa's primary exchange for commodity futures. Established in 1988, SAFEX was integrated into JSE in 2001. It offers futures and options on agricultural commodities including white and yellow maize, wheat, sorghum, sunflower seed, and soybeans, providing essential price-discovery and hedging tools for South Africa's agricultural sector.