The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) is set to see the number of agricultural commodities traded on its floor beginning next week. The second increase in a year, adding lupin beans, cardamom, and frankincense will push the Exchange's trade portfolio to 20.

Experts from the ECX and the ministries of Agriculture and Trade undertook a study a year ago, assessing the feasibility of incorporating the commodities. The findings were presented to ECX, which gave the green light recently, Netsanet Tesfaye, corporate communications manager, told Fortune.

The Exchange saw nearly 570,000tns of commodities valued at over 36.5 billion Br traded on its floor over the first 10 months of last year. Coffee accounted for more than a third, and sesame a little less than 32pc. Soybean followed at 14pc of the total. Run by the fourth and current Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Wondimagegnehu Negara, who assumed the position in 2017, annual trade volume reached 615,000tn two years ago, worth 39.6 billion Br.

Officials hope to see the additions improve the production and marketing of these commodities, burdened by high transaction costs due to the heavy involvement of intermediaries.

Arega Shumete (PhD), a senior researcher and member of the Ethiopian Economic Association, observes incorporating the commodities will encourage exports and offer farmers better lucrative deals.

"The commodities will be commercialised rather than produced for self-consumption," he said.

Frankincense, in particular, has seen export revenues dip in recent years due to the militarised conflict in the north, where the Tigray and Amhara regional states account for the bulk of production. The state-owned Ethiopian Agricultural Businesses Corporation earned close to 2.2 million dollars from the export of incense over the first three quarters of the last financial year. It was 200,000 dollars more than exports the year before, but only a fraction of close to 12 million dollars in revenues seven years ago.

Private exporters have seen business slow as well.