Rwanda has begun negotiating direct tea sales to Pakistan to bypass the Mombasa auction, where traders set the price, Trade and Industry Minister Prudence Sebahizi said June 9.

"Rwandan tea is usually sold in Mombasa, where groups of traders largely determine the price," Sebahizi said. "We have now begun working with investors in Pakistan so that Rwandan tea can be sold directly there without passing through other markets first."

The gap driving the move is wide. Rwandan tea currently sells for $2.83 to $3.55 per kilogram at the Mombasa auction, against $4 to $7 per kilogram in Pakistan, according to government figures cited by the minister. Sebahizi said the arrangement is meant to raise the price Rwandan tea earns and to keep it identifiable as Rwandan in export markets, rather than blended with other origins by traders who buy it in Mombasa and resell it abroad.

Tea is one of Rwanda's leading agricultural exports and a major earner of foreign exchange. The National Agricultural Export Development Board reports the country exports roughly 38,000 to 40,000 metric tons a year; in the 2023-24 fiscal year it shipped 38,467 metric tons worth about $114.8 million. Pakistan was the single largest buyer that year, importing more than 9,194 metric tons, almost a quarter of the total volume, for $27.5 million, according to NAEB figures reported by The New Times of Kigali.

Rwanda's government has floated direct sales to Pakistan before. Officials announced a similar push in 2021, though most Rwandan tea has continued moving through the Mombasa auction since. Sebahizi did not say when the new direct-trade arrangement might start shipping tea or what volumes it would cover.

Sources: Vision Media (Rwanda Champions), Rwanda bypasses Kenya auctions with direct tea exports to Pakistan; The New Times (Kigali), Top 10 buyers of Rwandan tea as exports rise to nearly $120 million; The New Times (Kigali), Rwanda to directly export tea to Pakistani market.