At least 26 Rwandan companies have registered for the second Rwanda Business Follow-up Series and Expo ’08 to take place in London later this month.

Companies from the handicraft, coffee, tea, banking, agro-processing and tour operating industries are to attend the expo, taking place between August 20-24, a statement from Rwanda Investment and Export Promotion Agency (RIEPA) said.

With the theme "Expanding Investment and Market Opportunities for Rwanda,” RIEPA said in a statement that it wants to sustain interest and demand for Rwandan products and investment opportunities among the business communities in the U.K.

The main objective is to expose Rwandan products and services to the U.K. market, including the Rwandan and African diaspora communities among others.

"These sessions will not be a first-time promotion attempt but a close follow-up of a few selected contacts of whom RIEPA wish to move from the interest level to the next level of possible investments in Rwanda,” the statement said.

"RIEPA officials will engage them specifically, and discuss possible ways forward.” RIEPA has limited the number of businesses at the meeting to 50, "in order to stimulate intimate discussions.” The list of companies is still to be finalized.

RIEPA has chosen London to showcase its products because the British are Europe’s main tea and coffee consumers. Eighty-seven per cent of the British population regularly drinks a cup of tea, according to RIEPA statistics.

In 2006, British consumers spent about £497 million (Frw515.6 billion) on tea. In terms of sales the coffee market is even larger. About £649 million (Frw673.3 billion) was spent on coffee.

Fair trade and specialty instant coffee has emerged as a successful niche market in Britain, RIEPA said in its statement.

"The growing fair trade and organic sectors, in which quality is more important than price, offer a great potential for Rwandan tea and coffee producers,” RIEPA said, adding that Rwandan fair trade coffee is already stocked in more than 1,000 U.K. stores. "A first step has been made, but there is much room for improvement.”

RIEPA said it expects to form more business partnerships so that "more Rwandan products will be launched on to the U.K. market and more U.K. consumers will be aware of their availability and investor interest reinforced.”

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