Audio: USMEF Announces Inaugural Seminar, Showcase in Sub-Saharan Africa

The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) has announced plans to hold a first-of-its-kind promotional event in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Set for Sept. 22 in Accra, Ghana, the event will focus on U.S. beef and pork trade opportunities for U.S. exporters and African buyers. USMEF Senior Vice President for Marketing Dan Halstrom offers more details on the latest initiative in this region.

Halstrom notes that the growth of the middle class and the increasing economic strength and buying power in Sub-Saharan Africa is a definite opportunity for the U.S. red meat industry. The seminar and showcase in Ghana is the result of a meeting hosted by USMEF earlier this year in Atlanta, which served as a rollout of information gathered during a 2014 research project on the region. The main takeaway from the Atlanta meeting, which was attended by more than 60 USMEF members, was that packers and exporters are excited about the potential of the Sub-Saharan Africa market and are anxious to build new business relationships in the region. In addition to Ghana, USMEF expects buyers from Nigeria, Angola, Benin, Gabon and Senegal to be in attendance at the seminar and showcase.

TRANSCRIPT:

Ralph Loos: The U.S. Meat Export Federation has announced plans to hold a first-of-its-kind promotional event in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this USMEF report, senior vice president Dan Halstrom offers more details on the latest initiative in this region.

Dan Halstrom: The USMEF is going to hold an Africa Buyers Seminar and Showcase in Accra, Ghana on Sept. 22, part of our ongoing initiative to explore the opportunities for U.S. beef and pork in West Africa. We started this project in April of 2014 looking for potential in increased business on beef and pork into the region, and it culminated with the release of our report in January of 2015. Interest both from the packer side and especially from the trader-purveyer side has been fantastic.

Ralph Loos: For both exporters and importers, there are unique obstacles that must be overcome when supplying beef and pork to this region. Halstrom emphasized that these challenges will be addressed at the Ghana event. Also included will be a session designed to encourage exporters and buyers to discuss current and future business opportunities.

Dan Halstrom: There’s really three components. Two components will be educational related. We will have an educational section really designed for the buyers from the various countries in the region on pork, and then another similar type seminar on beef. What are the best handling practices, both from the live production standpoint, as well as from a slaughterhouse product standpoint. We will also in both of these talk a little about merchandising opportunities and also the economics and where prices are at today. That will be followed up by an actual meet the buyers conference, where our members will have one-on-one opportunities to meet the buyers.

Ralph Loos: For more on this and other trade issues, please visit USMEF.org. For the U.S. Meat Export Federation, I’m Ralph Loos.