Ample room to boost Vietnamese coffee presence in Algeria

Algeria is a country that is unable to grow its own coffee, meaning it has to import the product to fully meet domestic demand. Every year sees the North African country import approximately 130,000 tonnes of coffee beans of all kinds with a value of US$300 million.

Apart from green coffee, Vietnamese enterprises can promote the export of processed and instant coffee with a higher added value.

Despite these prospects, Vietnamese coffee faces numerous hurdles as the country has not signed a trade agreement with Algeria, though coffee is consistently a leading Vietnamese export item to this market, according to experts.

Most notably, Vietnamese coffee makes up the highest market share in Algeria at over 50%.

Experts point out that as Algeria is not a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the import tax remains high, causing a hindrance to Vietnamese businesses,

In the long run, following the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, Vietnamese coffee is expected to encounter greater difficulties when competing with similar products from Algeria’s regional peers, such as the Ivory Coast , Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Madagascar, all of which enjoy tax incentives.

Last year witnessed Vietnamese coffee exports to Algeria surge by 6.3% to reach US$99.68 million, making up 65% of the country’s total export value, according to the Vietnam Trade Office in Algeria.