New bid to automate tea auctions in Kenya
Kenya, the world's largest black tea exporter, has renewed its bid to automate the Mombasa tea auction, where most of African teas are traded. Electronic trading is intended to eliminate middlemen, who are blamed for the recent slump in auction prices. 12 brokerage firms control the bulk of trading and online sales should enable to bypass them. A similar government initiative failed to take off in 2007 due to competing interests at the auction and lack of funds. A kilogram of commodity-grade black tea is currently trading at an average of $2.20.