Burundi

Burundi is a small market with a long supply line. EMM ships through Dar es Salaam and the cargo reaches Bujumbura and Gitega by road, usually via Kigoma or through Rwanda, which puts it among the slowest and most expensive inland legs we handle. We are honest with Burundian buyers about that: the freight share of a landed cost here is high, consolidation into fewer and fuller containers is worth real money, and planning a shipment two months ahead rather than three weeks ahead saves more than haggling over the machine price.

Typical orders

Coffee and tea dominate the export economy, so washing station equipment, pulpers, dryers, hullers and grading tables are regular enquiries. Food staples drive the rest - maize, cassava and rice milling, palm oil expelling around Rumonge, and small-scale bakery and beverage plant for Bujumbura. We also supply a steady volume of workshop tooling, welding sets, water pumps, solar components and diesel generators, because much of the productive economy runs on small independent installations rather than on grid-connected factories.

What to allow for

Imports fall under the Burundi Bureau of Standards verification programme, so inspection in China ahead of shipment is part of the process and we handle it as a matter of course. Site power is 220 V single phase, 380 V three phase, 50 Hz. Grid capacity is limited and foreign exchange availability can lengthen the time between an order being agreed and a letter of credit being opened, so we hold quotations open longer for Burundian customers than we normally would and confirm the price before we release the goods rather than after.

If you are buying for a cooperative or a group of buyers, tell us - consolidating several orders into one container is usually the single biggest saving available here.