African floriculture heats up
In the week running up to Valentine’s Day 2015, an estimated 200m red roses and tulips, 100m assorted other varieties and 20m pot plants were exported by truck and air from Amsterdam. Many of those flowers had just arrived from Nairobi, which despatched 45 aircraft freighters to the Dutch capital that week alone.
While few exporters emerged from the global economic downturn unscathed, shippers of price-elastic, discretionary goods bound for Europe were particularly hard hit. Among those on the front lines were Africa’s floriculture traders, who had to contend with weak demand abroad even as production costs at home increased.
A Eurozone debt crisis characterised by rising unemployment and falling living standards meant that most flower buyers were more concerned with making ends meet than splashing out on bouquets.
Click here to read the complete article at africanbusinessmagazine.com.
