Kenya and Uganda are among the East African origins featured in CBI’s work on added-value tea for European markets.
Origin and market context
CBI’s programme connects European importers with businesses working in added-value tea, specialty coffee and oilseeds in Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia. This provides market context; it does not establish that an individual supplier is ready to export.
A clearer buyer conversation
Growing region and processing location
Tea type, grade, harvest period and sample specification
Batch traceability, packaging and supporting quality records
Organise the business identity, product information and supporting documents in a Verified Trade Passport.
Prepare your product for a buyer conversation
Start with one clearly described product, one origin and one intended market. Use these prompts to build a practical brief with the Crossgates team.
Describe the tea
Identify black, green or another tea type, processing style, grade, growing area, producer or factory, and production period. Distinguish bulk tea from retail-packed products.
Prepare the buyer’s sample
Tie the sample to a named lot and record the agreed sensory and quality specification. List testing or certification evidence you actually hold, with its scope and date.
Explain supply and packing
Describe available volume, pack format, storage, replenishment timing and labelling information. Discuss how consistency between the approved sample and the delivered lot will be checked.
What Crossgates can help you organise
A structured business profile, product brief, supporting-record list and clearly identified gaps. Agree the review scope, deliverables and sharing permissions before work begins. A Verified Trade Passport records the applicable review; it does not replace official approvals or the buyer’s own assessment.
For your first enquiry, include the product form, business location, available quantity, intended destination and the documents you already hold. Do not upload private supporting records to a public page.
Five largest reported country values in this comparison. See the full country table for remaining reporters.See the African country values used in this calculation
Reported export values · current US dollars · 2023
Reporting country
Export value
Kenya
US$1,345,983,000
Rwanda
US$105,068,800
Uganda
US$82,473,170
Malawi
US$70,572,710
Morocco
US$38,504,650
Tanzania
US$31,134,830
South Africa
US$23,950,020
Burundi
US$18,267,680
Zimbabwe
US$16,627,940
Egypt, Arab Rep.
US$16,434,000
Mozambique
US$4,932,000
Ethiopia(excludes Eritrea)
US$2,312,420
Lesotho
US$1,484,230
Cameroon
US$1,292,690
Senegal
US$567,780
Ghana
US$525,570
Mauritius
US$440,720
Togo
US$319,370
Niger
US$281,310
Mali
US$242,510
Benin
US$182,550
Cote d'Ivoire
US$175,810
Zambia
US$82,200
Nigeria
US$33,190
Djibouti
US$31,640
Tunisia
US$17,060
Cape Verde
US$6,470
Namibia
US$5,920
Burkina Faso
US$5,530
Angola
US$5,470
Botswana
US$2,520
Congo, Rep.
US$820
Madagascar
US$610
Gabon
US$360
Congo, Dem. Rep.
US$270
Eswatini
US$200
Comoros
US$110
What these numbers mean
Africa already has a significant position in reported tea exports. The opportunity is not to present the continent as absent from the market. It is to help individual suppliers make their quality, consistency and commercial readiness easier for buyers to assess.
Where the commercial gap appears
Tea offers can differ by type, grade, processing method, harvest period, packing format and destination. Bulk tea and consumer-ready packs also occupy different commercial positions. The export total combines those transactions; it does not show how much profit reaches growers, factories, packers or brands.
The gap Crossgates addresses
Crossgates can organise the business profile, factory and product records, batch identifiers, available testing and review findings into one supplier record. Missing evidence should have a named next action so a promising offer does not stall because nobody knows which document or clarification is needed.
Turn the opportunity into a prepared offer
For a buyer discussion, prepare a precise grade description, representative sample, batch and packing details, available quantity and supply schedule. Explain how a sample relates to the offered consignment. Evidence makes the offer more usable; a passport does not substitute for tasting, agreed specifications or commercial due diligence.
How to read this comparison
Common historical baseline: calendar year 2023, current US dollars, partner “World”, gross exports, and the stated HS 1988/92 product classification. These are reported export values, not retail market revenue, profit, farmer income or Crossgates transactions. More recent releases may be available; 2023 is used consistently across these product comparisons.
World total = sum of the reporting economies in the linked table, excluding the European Union aggregate to avoid counting it alongside EU member countries. Africa total = sum of the African reporting countries listed above. Share = Africa total ÷ world total × 100. Source values are in thousands of US dollars and are multiplied by 1,000. Display totals are rounded; percentages use unrounded values.
Missing country reports are not zero exports. Re-exports remain included; an export recorded from an African country does not necessarily mean the product was grown there. The comparison is a snapshot of reported trade, not a complete estimate of value retained in Africa. Accessed 27 October 2026.
Historical comparison: 2023 reported gross exports, current US dollars. Africa’s share is calculated from the reporting countries, not from retail sales or farmer income. Source: World Bank WITS, using UN Comtrade. All eight totals were recalculated against the linked source tables on 29 October 2026.
The download contains unrounded totals, the number of reporting economies and the calculation method. The country tables above show the African values used. Missing reports are not treated as zero. The EU aggregate is excluded to avoid double counting.