What do you buy, and on what terms?

Decides which commodities a corridor is worth opening for, and at which hubs.

1. Which commodities, and roughly what tonnage a month?

   A range is fine. It is the order of magnitude that matters, not the number.

2. Is that steady through the year, or concentrated after harvest?

   Seasonality decides how much storage a hub needs, which is most of its cost.

3. What specification do you buy to?

   Moisture, foreign matter, aflatoxin, variety. Name the standard if you use one.

Decides which corridors open next, and whether a hub needs cold storage.

1. Which plant, depot or city does it have to reach?

   Several is a normal answer. List them.

2. Do you collect ex-warehouse, or do you need it delivered?

   Whether you move it yourself changes what the platform has to arrange.

3. How much notice do you need before a load arrives?

Decides whether forward contracts are worth building out beyond what exists.

1. Spot, forward, or a supply agreement across a season?

2. If you would contract before harvest, how far ahead and for what volume?

   A forward is what lets a farmer plant against a known price, so this one matters.

3. Who do you buy from today, and what is wrong with it?

   Aggregators, auction floors, direct. Be specific about what fails.

The cash cycle is the thing this platform exists to shorten. This says by how much.

1. What are your payment terms today, and what would you prefer?

   Thirty to ninety days is what we assume. Tell us if that is wrong.

2. Which currency, and does that depend on the commodity?

3. Would you prefinance a grower against an agreed offtake?

   Not offered today. Whether it should be depends on answers to this.

Decides whether a third party grading a lot is worth anything to you.

1. What happens when a load misses grade — reject, re-price, or blend?

2. Would you buy against a warehouse receipt without inspecting first?

   If not, say what would have to be true. That is the product problem in one line.

3. What certification or compliance do your own customers demand of you?

There is no form to fill in. The button below opens an email with every question already in it — answer the ones that apply, ignore the rest. A person replies.

Open a prefilled email

Or write to ops@freetrader.africa in your own words. That is just as useful.

Phase 1 soft commodities. Everything here can be weighed, graded and receipted now:

• Soybeans
• White maize
• Yellow maize
• Wheat
• Beans (sugar bean, cowpea)
• Sunflower
• Beef
• Horticulture (tomatoes, onions, greens, chillies, herbs)

If what you buy is not on that list, say so — that is exactly the kind of answer that changes the roadmap. Hard commodities and cross-border trade are not open.

You do not need to wait for a survey to be answered. Register as a buyer and see what is listed, or read how buying works first.