The Tea Industry in Africa

The tea industry was founded in Africa by British settlers in the early 20th century in Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, and Tanzania, followed by Zimbabwe in the 1920’s and the West Cameroons in the 1950’s. Portuguese settlers planted tea in Mozambique in the 1930’s. Belgian settlers began planting it in the DRC in the 1940’s, in Burundi in the 1930’s and Rwanda in the 1950’s. After the end of the colonial era circa 1960-61, commercial tea cultivation began in further countries, including Zambia and South Africa in 1964 and Ethiopia in the 1970’s.