Co-operative Bank of Kenya has won the race to handle billions of shillings which pass through the coffee exchange, boosting the lender’s non-funded income.
This came as President William Ruto, speaking in Kirinyaga County during his ongoing tour of the Mt Kenya region, vowed to crack down on coffee cartels that have been fleecing farmers.
The government has embarked on reforming the coffee sector, hoping that it can take on the challenges crippling the once-vibrant industry.
Under the new reforms, 11 coffee co-operative unions have been licensed to sell coffee directly at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) and overseas, thereby eliminating the need for middlemen between farmers and buyers.
The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has also been entrenched as the regulator of the coffee exchange where the William Ruto administration expects that the regulator will oversee a transparent and efficient price discovery process that benefits farmers.
