Every year, United Nations agencies spend more than US$ 6 billion on goods and services, 60% of which goes for humanitarian relief and development to African countries. Yet only 10% of total UN procurement was supplied by African companies.

“Few people realize how much further our humanitarian and development aid dollars go by buying in Africa for Africa,” says J. Denis Bélisle, Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC). “This kind of trade helps reduce poverty in war-torn African countries which is, after all, one of our principal objectives.”

The Geneva-based ITC thought that a sensible solution to this illogical system would be to organize a series of meetings of UN buyers and African sellers all over Africa. Sit them down at a table and put them face-to-face.

It sounds pretty obvious but until ITC thought of it and arranged it, buyers and sellers very rarely got together. Somewhat to ITC’s surprise they encountered resistance from both sides.

“There is an erroneous but widespread belief among buyers that Africa is an exporter or producer of only a few primary commodities,” explains Mr Bélisle. “There is also an anti-African bias that is skeptical of the capacity of African producers to supply quality materials at competitive prices.

“The other side of the coin is that African suppliers often feel that the market is too complex to access and that aid agencies do not want to buy from African manufacturers. Furthermore, many of them are not currently tuned in to the needs of international buyers.

Altogether, these six meetings attracted over 600 participants, including 267 African companies that had been visited, audited, advised and carefully selected by specialized consultants. About 100 aid agency officials offered detailed information on current and future needs.

One meeting in Nairobi, to which ITC invited both sellers and buyers, brought together 63 entrepreneurs from seven eastern and southern African countries and 27 procurement professionals. The buyers came from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the World Food Programme, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like the Red Cross, World Vision and Oxfam.

There were 400 bilateral meetings between individual African sellers and international buyers. The Nairobi meeting alone resulted in US$ 6.4 million dollars in business for 25 firms; another US$ 2.5 million is still anticipated.

These African firms make tents, blankets, pots, mosquito nets and other emergency response supplies, all of which the UN buyers have usually imported from Asia, Europe and North America. Heavy-duty tarpaulins come from Europe, and emergency supplies of maize are imported from faraway Latin America and the United States, although African farmers could provide local
cereals, beans, pulses, seeds, blended food, vegetable oil and other nutritional foods. Aid agencies also expressed an interest in acquiring locally-made mattresses and even cardboard coffins.

Meanwhile, this already vast market is constantly expanding as NGOs and specialized institutions become involved and broaden procurement needs. The market now includes a wide range of goods and services including food, shelter and housing, pharmaceutical supplies and medical equipment, computers and software, office equipment, water supply equipment and chemicals, and transportation.