Morocco has taken a bold step to reshape the continent’s coffee trade with the launch of the African Coffee Hub at the Tangiers Med port complex. Positioned at the northwestern tip of Africa, Tangiers Med is already the region’s largest port; the new hub aims to turn it into a continental gateway that consolidates buying, quality control, processing and export preparation for African coffee destined for Europe, the United States and Asia.
The hub’s model shifts more of the coffee value chain onto African soil. Rather than consigning most value‑adding activities to overseas markets, the African Coffee Hub will source beans directly from producers across the continent, bring them to Tangiers Med for consolidation and processing, and then dispatch finished consignments to global buyers. By centralising these functions in Morocco, the initiative seeks to shorten supply chains, improve traceability and raise the share of export value that remains within Africa.
Target markets for the hub include the continent’s established coffee belts — Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania — where smallholder producers and cooperatives supply much of the region’s specialty and commercial coffee. The hub’s organisers say they will soon announce initial agreements with producing countries, signalling an early push to formalise procurement channels and build long‑term partnerships with origin nations and farmer organisations.
At the heart of the African Coffee Hub’s pitch is a promise to strengthen producer agency. CEO Sanaa Ben Abdelkhaleq has framed the project as a means to give growers more direct access to global markets while ensuring quality and fair compensation. By handling consolidation and export logistics closer to origin, the hub aims to reduce the number of intermediaries between farmer and buyer, improve price transparency and protect the provenance of African coffees through stronger traceability systems.
Quality control and traceability are central to the hub’s value proposition. Consolidating quality assurance at Tangiers Med allows for consistent grading, processing and packaging under standards that buyers expect, while digital traceability tools can link exported lots back to specific regions, cooperatives or farms. For producers, these measures can translate into better market recognition and the potential to command premium prices for verified, high‑quality lots.
The hub also promises logistical advantages. Tangiers Med’s strategic location on the Strait of Gibraltar provides direct maritime links to major European ports and efficient connections to transatlantic and Asian shipping routes. For exporters, the port’s capacity and connectivity could reduce transit times and shipping costs, making African coffee more competitive in key consumer markets.
However, the hub’s success will depend on several practical factors. Building reliable procurement relationships with producers requires transparent contracting, timely payments and investments in post‑harvest handling at origin to ensure beans arrive at the hub in exportable condition. Equally important will be mechanisms to ensure that a meaningful share of the added value accrues to farmers and local processors rather than being captured by intermediaries or external service providers.
There are also political and commercial dynamics to navigate. Sourcing across multiple countries will require harmonised sanitary and phytosanitary standards, clear export regulations and cooperative frameworks that respect national priorities. The hub will need to demonstrate that it complements, rather than supplants, domestic processing ambitions in producing countries and that it contributes to broader rural development objectives.
If those challenges are managed, the African Coffee Hub could mark a significant shift in how African coffee reaches the world. By concentrating buying, quality control and export preparation in a single, well‑connected location, the initiative has the potential to streamline trade, enhance traceability and create new opportunities for producers to capture value. For a continent that supplies a large share of the world’s coffee yet often receives a small portion of the export value, the hub represents an experiment in reclaiming more of the coffee economy.
As the hub moves to finalise agreements with producing countries in the coming weeks, stakeholders across the value chain will be watching closely. Farmers and cooperatives will be looking for fair contracts and reliable market access; buyers will be assessing the consistency and provenance of supply; and policymakers will be weighing how the hub fits into national strategies for agro‑industrialisation. If the African Coffee Hub can align these interests, Tangiers Med may well become the launchpad for a new era in African coffee exports.