Benin 2012
“The Future is Now!” The 7th African Cashew Alliance Annual Conference and the World Cashew Expo12 will take place at the Palais des Congrès in Cotonou, Benin from 17-20 September 2012.
Conference venue
Africa has become the center of attention for the cashew world; business opportunities in African cashew have never been so huge. The continent’s production reached one million tons in 2011, and its processing of cashew nuts has increased more than threefold since the creation of ACA in 2006 to more than 100,000MT this year!
ACA’s annual conference has become the biggest annual cashew event on the planet with more than 350 cashew stakeholders from 35 countries attending in 2011. In 2012, cashew farmers, processors, traders, exporters, services providers, retailers, equipment manufacturers, bankers, and governments will undoubtedly all gather again under the aegis of the ACA in Cotonou, Benin from 17-20 September.
‘The ACA Annual Conference is something we put on our agenda every year. It now attracts members from other origins, so when I’m there I can meet with ten or fifteen major suppliers of cashew around the world saving me time and effort. As a buyer, you want to be able to come to one place, hold a lot of business meetings and also feel like you have had an opportunity to learn something. That is exactly what this conference offers,’ said a major cashew buyer at last year’s conference in Banjul. ‘I attend the conference to learn about new trends and technologies. At the World Cashew Expo I found new equipment and other solutions for the future of my company,” said a cashew processor from Benin.
This year the conference will be a unique platform to do business, exchange best practices, and learn from experts from around the world. The World Cashew Expo12 will offer opportunities to meet with equipment manufacturers and service providers. Access to finance will be one of the key topics developed during the event along with market and investment opportunities.
In the cashew world Benin is known for the quality of its raw product. Beninese planters have almost doubled their production volume in less than a decade bringing it to an estimated 70-80,000 MT. The country is the third largest exporter of raw cashew nuts in Africa with more than 100,000 MT exported in 2011. The cashew sector has taken an important role in the national economy injecting about 122 million dollars in the Beninese economy in 2011, which represents 13% of the of export revenue. Cashew has become one of the priority crops for the government.
Program
17 September: Registration, Inauguration of World Cashew Expo12, Welcome Cocktail
18 September: Plenary Session
19 September: World Cashew Forum and Gala Dinner
20 September: Field trip + Leisure trip
17 - 19 September: World Cashew Expo12
The tender to host the 8th ACA Annual Conference in 2013 is now available here!
