China is reaching out to Africa’s top coffee-producing nations as part of a broader strategy to secure new supply chains overseas.
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Sub-Saharan Africa geoeconomic analyst Aly-Khan Satchu said the strategy was a move to “lock in supply”, leveraging US tariff uncertainty and a “super spike in coffee demand in China”.
“China appears to be leveraging US tariff-related uncertainty and volatility to lock in supply, a strategy that it has utilised to great effect across other verticals,” Satchu said.
Among Chinese companies spearheading the push is Cotti Coffee, a rapidly expanding Chinese brand founded by former Luckin Coffee executives. In June, it started with the signing of an agreement by Rwanda’s agriculture ministry to invest in a new coffee industry development park.
Cotti, which operates more than 14,000 shops, has also signed deals in Ethiopia and Uganda. Its executive vice-president expressed interest in procuring 5,000 tonnes of Ugandan Arabica beans a year and discussed plans for local processing factories.
