{"id":120920,"date":"2026-03-18T14:58:55","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T14:58:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions"},"modified":"2026-03-18T15:09:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T15:09:48","slug":"govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions","title":{"rendered":"Govt Seeks New Markets Amid Middle East Disruptions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Rwandan exporters are counting losses following disruptions in the Middle East, the main destination for the country\u2019s avocado exports.<\/p>\n<p>More than 90 per cent of Rwanda\u2019s avocados are shipped to Dubai, and recent flight suspensions linked to the conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran have made it difficult to deliver perishable produce on time.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, several exporters have already incurred significant losses.<\/p>\n<p>Annie Justine Uwamahoro, Managing Director of ABCD Great Life Ltd and General Secretary of the Horticulture Exporters Association of Rwanda (HEAR), said that while exporters access multiple international markets with support from the government and partners, most avocado shipments still go to Dubai.<\/p>\n<p>Exporters mainly deal in Hass and Fuerte varieties. \u201cThe abrupt suspension of flights disrupted our planned harvests, and avocados cannot be stored for long because they are highly perishable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe identified six companies that were affected due to the lack of markets for already harvested produce.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Uwamahoro estimated that losses from harvested avocados alone exceeded Rwf100 million, with returned shipments pushing the total even higher.<\/p>\n<p>She added that exporters lack insurance coverage due to the difficulty of finding insurers willing to cover highly perishable goods.<\/p>\n<p>Uwamahoro stressed the need for government support, including help in securing alternative markets and exploring insurance solutions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen flights are disrupted, harvested produce can go to waste. Protecting the country\u2019s export reputation is also critical,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>She called for urgent intervention to diversify export destinations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Middle East is no longer reliable. We need support to access alternative markets and explore financial safeguards, such as insurance, to mitigate risks beyond our control.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Prudence Sebahizi, Minister of Trade and Industry, said the government had anticipated possible disruptions in certain markets, particularly in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, authorities have begun assessing the impact on exporters and products.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVery soon, we expect to have clarity on the affected products, exporters, and their current markets,\u201d Sebahizi said.<\/p>\n<p>The government is already exploring alternatives in other regions, including Asia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are looking at markets such as China and India. We will support exporters to penetrate these markets,\u201d he said, noting that the ministry is working closely with the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources to address the challenges facing horticultural exports.<\/p>\n<p>On financial support for losses already incurred, Sebahizi said any remedial measures, including compensation, would be considered carefully and decided upon by relevant government stakeholders.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Rwanda<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. Rwandan exporters are counting losses following disruptions in the Middle East, the main destination for the country\u2019s avocado exports. More than 90 per cent of Rwanda\u2019s avocados are shipped to Dubai, and recent flight suspensions linked to the conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran have made it difficult to deliver [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":120919,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,15],"tags":[8513,1057,5515,9489,758],"class_list":["post-120920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-avocado","tag-exports","tag-horticulture","tag-middle-east","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Govt Seeks New Markets Amid Middle East Disruptions - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rwandan exporters are counting losses following disruptions in the Middle East, the main destination for the country\u2019s a ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Govt Seeks New Markets Amid Middle East Disruptions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rwandan exporters are counting losses following disruptions in the Middle East, the main destination for the country\u2019s a ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-18T14:58:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-18T15:09:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/03\/sm_1773833891.721773.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"617\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Govt Seeks New Markets Amid Middle East Disruptions\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-18T14:58:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-18T15:09:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions\"},\"wordCount\":430,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/03\/sm_1773833891.721773.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Avocado\",\"exports\",\"Horticulture\",\"middle east\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions\",\"name\":\"Govt Seeks New Markets Amid Middle East Disruptions - Rwanda\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/03\/sm_1773833891.721773.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-18T14:58:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-18T15:09:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Rwandan exporters are counting losses following disruptions in the Middle East, the main destination for the country\u2019s a ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/03\/sm_1773833891.721773.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/03\/sm_1773833891.721773.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":617,\"caption\":\"Govt Seeks New Markets Amid Middle East Disruptions\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Govt Seeks New Markets Amid Middle East Disruptions\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/\",\"name\":\"Rwanda\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Govt Seeks New Markets Amid Middle East Disruptions - Rwanda","description":"Rwandan exporters are counting losses following disruptions in the Middle East, the main destination for the country\u2019s a ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Govt Seeks New Markets Amid Middle East Disruptions","og_description":"Rwandan exporters are counting losses following disruptions in the Middle East, the main destination for the country\u2019s a ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions","og_site_name":"Rwanda","article_published_time":"2026-03-18T14:58:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-18T15:09:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":617,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/03\/sm_1773833891.721773.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Govt Seeks New Markets Amid Middle East Disruptions","datePublished":"2026-03-18T14:58:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-18T15:09:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions"},"wordCount":430,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/03\/sm_1773833891.721773.jpg","keywords":["Avocado","exports","Horticulture","middle east","Rwanda"],"articleSection":["all news","Economy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions","name":"Govt Seeks New Markets Amid Middle East Disruptions - Rwanda","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/03\/sm_1773833891.721773.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-18T14:58:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-18T15:09:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Rwandan exporters are counting losses following disruptions in the Middle East, the main destination for the country\u2019s a ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/03\/sm_1773833891.721773.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/03\/sm_1773833891.721773.jpg","width":1000,"height":617,"caption":"Govt Seeks New Markets Amid Middle East Disruptions"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/govt-seeks-new-markets-amid-middle-east-disruptions#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Govt Seeks New Markets Amid Middle East Disruptions"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/","name":"Rwanda","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}