African affiliation Afruibana is sounding the alarm as South American bananas are progressively invading the European market, seriously affecting growers from Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Ghana. On this market, African banana exporters have been clashing with their South American rivals for a while now. However, both sides are not evenly matched: South America – represented by Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica – will unquestionably win over the smaller African players mentioned above.
Addressing 6.7 million tons in 2020, of which just 630,000 tons was created in the EU, 75% of Europe’s market is provided with South American “dollar” bananas while ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) items make up just 15%.
Peoplenewschronicle.com reports how in 2019, Afruibana called for guidelines to be set up surrounding African exports to Europe. The point is to reinforce the trade between Africa and Europe, building up a mutually advantageous banana exchange.