Current situation of rice export from Vietnam to African market

Market Information
icon date25/07/2023

Exporting rice to the African market is an issue that is receiving a lot of attention and attraction from the African community and many countries around the world.

Demand for rice in the African market

Rice in the African market plays the role of the main food in people’s daily meals. Residents in this area have a rather difficult living standard, are often affected by epidemics, tsunamis, storms, flash floods, instability in political and security situations… In Africa, the land is barren, the climate is dry, so it is quite difficult to grow wet rice, the harvested output is not enough to serve the needs of the whole region. Vietnam is also a unit that supports rice exports to the African market, helping your country in part with the need for food.

The situation of Vietnam’s rice exports to Africa

Vietnam’s Trade Counselor cum market Niger, Senegal and Gambia, Mali – Mr. Hoang Duc Nhuan said that Vietnam’s rice exports to Africa increased sharply in the first 6 months of 2022, expected to continue to increase in the coming months and into 2023. According to the results of a resident reporter in Algiers, Africa is currently an area with very high demand for rice, especially in West Africa. On average, each year, Africa has to import rice from many countries, including Vietnam, with an import volume of 12 to 13 million tons of rice of all kinds. In the first 10 months of 2022, Vietnam’s rice exports to Africa reached 2,739 million tons, equivalent to 1.266 billion USD, up 30.84% in volume and 18.39% in turnover compared to the same period in 2021. As of the end of November 2022, according to the latest data of the Plant Industry Department, the total rice export volume in Africa reached 3.234 million tons, nearly 11 million tons higher than the same period last year. Currently, rice exports to Africa account for 20% of Vietnam’s total exports to Africa. The big issue in food security that African countries are concerned about is the quality and cost of products.

Some measures to support rice exports to Africa
Currently, the Government has proposed many preferential measures to increase the export of rice by countries to the African market, while limiting imports through intermediaries. Some of the measures to include are:
Strengthening on updating rice market information
This day, with the appearance of many modern information technologies on the portal www.ttnn.com.vn, it has published relatively complete information about the rice market in Africa. Therefore, information processing needs to be regularly collected and refreshed to help the process of updating accurately and quickly.
Looking for a great partner
Enterprises and production facilities must constantly look for big partners. They can contact the Vietnam Trade Office in Africa for introduction. Finding partners on television or the internet is quite risky, especially in West and Central Africa, so if you see any abnormality in the transaction, you need to quickly contact the Africa, West Asia, South Asia Market Department or the Vietnamese Trade Offices in Africa for advice.
Strategies on all items
Recently, there have been a number of Vietnamese enterprises that have piloted the method of exchanging Vietnamese rice for African cashews or exchanging rice for gold to limit the problem of exporting through intermediaries. Therefore, in order to support the African market on rice, it is necessary to find a suitable source of rice, linking exports with imports.
Training staff in charge of the African market
Attention should be paid to the training of African cadres, specifically to improve foreign trade knowledge as well as foreign languages, the formation of this knowledge will make rice export easier if officials know about import and export regulations, business practices…

Vietnam’s rice exports to the African market have been improving in many support methods. This will make importing African rice faster and easier.