Angola’s 10th edition of banana fair comes to an end

After four days of festivities, the banana fair comes to an end in Angola.

Local farmers, associations and cooperatives from several municipalities joined industry representatives from other parts of the country to discuss market expansion and their production strengths.

Maria Antónia Nelumba, governor of Bengo province, on the occasion of the closing of this 10th edition of the banana fair:

"We will continue to produce and invest in banana processing, in order to take advantage of the entire production chain."

This tenth edition exceeded the organizers' expectations in terms of attendance and earnings.

Hélder Cardete, Novagrolíder representative: "We're going to continue producing and conquering markets. Our operating philosophy is to produce 70% for the domestic market and 30% for export." "We export to various countries, including Europe, South Africa, Namibia, DR Congo and Russia, and we will continue to produce and conquer new markets.

Since President Joāo Lourenço launched the challenge of diversifying the Angolan economy through agriculture, bananas have become Angola's green diamond for diversifying the economy.

Ester Jamba, visitor to the fair: ''Well, the prices are affordable, a bunch of bananas costs 2,000.00 kwanzas, 3,000.00 kwanzas, I'm really satisfied''.

Competition in banana production is fierce on the continent.

Celma, a first-time exhibitor: ''In truth (reality) we brought a large quantity of bananas from the municipality of Nambuangongo, bananas of very good quality, and the fair is going very well, with strong competition."

Angola is the largest banana producer in Africa and the seventh largest in the world, with an annual supply of over four million tonnes.