PXAfrica Launches Into World Wheat Market, Grows 150% Since Launch

NAIROBI, KE — 03/09/16 — PXAfrica Ltd, a subsidiary of PanXchange, Inc., reached two new milestones this week, the first of which is a live offer for world market wheat delivered to Dar es Salaam.  This is the first market order that ties the regional East African market to the world market.  Julie Lerner, CEO and Founder of PanXchange explains, “I had always envisioned that a successful regional market would cross over into the international market, but I didn’t think it would happen so quickly.  We are looking forward to serving a larger clientele that seeks to export wheat to Dar es Salaam and Mombasa.” She continues, “We also look forward to concluding our first export of beans from the region in the first half of 2016, most likely from Mombasa to an Indian port.”

Three months ago, PXAfrica announced that it grew 85% in its first three months.  Today, members of the site now exceeds 50 users in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, a growth rate of more than 150% since its first two weeks.  Though the company’s marketing and procurement platform is only seven months old, PXAfrica has also expanded its product offerings far faster than expected.  Ms. Lerner states, “In our first year, we expected to focus solely on maize and wheat flows to commercial processors. Yet today, at the request of our members, PXAfrica is trading those grains, but also four different types of beans [pulses], soybeans, sunflower and four other commodities.”

PXAfrica members range from millers, traders, producers and associations of smallholder farmers.  Their most active users are mid-sized players who have the business savvy of the larger players but might not have the same reach.  Toward that end, Ms. Lerner expounds, “People have seen exchanges come and go each year in East Africa. I’m proud of the work the PanXchange team is doing and look forward to growing alongside our stakeholders in the region’s agrarian economy.”

About PanXchange, Inc.

PXAfrica, Ltd. Is a wholly-owned subsidiary PanXchange, Inc. The company provides a patented, web-based negotiation and trading platform specializing in regional and international physical commodities. The system addresses the complexities of commodity sales and procurement, while also facilitating price discovery (transparency) and liquidity. Built by a former Cargill physicals trader, it offers real-time negotiations of multiple fields, granular counterparty management, pricing mechanisms to avoid unwanted influencing of market values, and all of it anonymously in real-time. Combined, these features create a trading platform that obviates the need for clearing services, allows for an efficient transfer of both product and risk and offers an unprecedented opportunity for objective real-time and historical cash market values.