Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) announced on Friday the inauguration of its revolutionary eTRADE Platform located at its headquarters on Chad Street. The ECX also made public the introduction of a new consolidated coffee grading system for the coming harvest season. Furthermore, the Exchange’s enhanced SMS/IVR market data dissemination platform was launched on the same day. Inauguration of its eTRADE Platform ECX has revolutionized Ethiopia’s tradition bound agriculture by creating a new marketplace that serves all market actors such as farmers, traders, processors and exporters. Since its establishment in 2008, ECX has become a symbolic Exchange in Africa that has truly empowered smallholder farmers with market price discovery. The newly inaugurated eTRADE Platform is revolutionary in that it has the capacity to trade nearly 5000 times more transactions than its current “Open-Out-Cry” or “Pit-Trading” platform capacity. The eTRADE platform was entirely developed by the Exchange over the past two years and it is expected that it will dramatically increase trade efficiency, transparency and accessibility. The project came to fruition in collaboration with the Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF) and other partners. The eTRADE Platform saw its soft launch on July 20, 2015 by introducing local washed/unwashed byproduct coffee trades. Thus far, a total trade volume of 2,390 MT has been traded on the platform with a trade value of ETB 120 million (USD 5.7 million). The Exchange has also trained and certified more than 445 ECX trading members and representatives who are now qualified to trade on the platform. The launch of eTRADE will eventually enable market players to trade electronically from anywhere. However, the first implementation starts at the ECX HQ Trading Center, and gradually rollout to the newly built regional trading centers in Hawassa, Humera, Nekemte and, in the near future, at additional four other regional trading centers across the country. The platform expected to increase efficiency, provide capability to trade other commodities, and enhance ECX’s overall service offerings while building stakeholders capacity. Source: comunicaffe.com/ecx-inaugurates-etrade-platform-introduces-new-coffee-grading-system/