- Source: OCIBU
The Burundi Coffee Board (French: Office des Cultures Industrielles du Burundi, OCIBU), or Office du Café de Burundi, was a coffee industry agency in Burundi, since replaced by ARFIC;.
History
OCIBU was founded with the mission of promoting coffee cultivation in Burundi, developing and enforcing quality standards, regulatiing marketing and issuing product information.
In December 1975 a loan to Burundi from the International Development Association was arranged for a second coffee improvement project.
ISABU was to carry out a coffee research program and field trials, and OCIBU the rest of the project.
This included procuring the distributing production inputs to coffeee growers, building and equipping four coffee washing stations, organizing cooperatives and other community development activities, and building or rehabilitating potable water sources, bridges and culverts.
In 1990 reforms of the coffee industry began, with introduction of private operators to handle export, curing and roasting.
The state maintained control of washing and de-pulping stations via OCIBU.
In 2002 OCIBU had 133 washing stations, 5 SOGESTALs (Sociétés de Gestion des Stations de Lavage) and various industries incuding two SODECO (Sociétés de Déparchage et de Conditionnement du Café) plants.
Under the terms of the World Bank's Economic Reform Support Grant, OCIBU was one of 14 public enterprises targeted in the 2006-2008 privatization program. The others were OPHAVET, BRB, Abattoir Public de Bujumbura (APB), REGIDESO, ONATEL, SOSUMO, COTEBU, UCAR, OTB, SOCABU and SIP.
Until 2009 OCIBU had a monopoly in organizing the coffee market, regulating quality and arranging for technical assistance.
In 2009 OCIBU was dissolved and replaced by ARFIC, a new regulatory agency for the coffee sector.
As of December 2022 OCIBU, which was in liquidation, owned 11.11% of the insurance company Socabu.