FDA ruling opens America for African Cigars

FDA ruling opens America for African Cigars. That one of the world’s best, and expensive, wrappers is coming from Africa is no secret. But cigars made in Africa? Up until recently, we didn’t know that cigars were even popular in Africa. Let alone that African cigars are produced for the local markets. With the recent ruling of the FDA, Bongani Cigars sees an opportunity to launch their African cigars on the US Market.

Bongani Cigars

Kamal Moukheiber, a Lebanese businessman who lived in London for 17 years, visited family in Maputo, Mozambique. That’s where he got the idea to bring the Dominican Republic to Africa in terms of cigars. In 2016 he founded Bongani Cigars. He brought Dominican master rollers to Mozambique to train local rollers. “It makes sense logistically; Africa produces significant quantities of tobacco and much of it is exported to the rest of the world. Producing cigars here not only makes sense for labor costs and reducing the cost of production – but also keeps the revenue, and work opportunities here.” Said Moukheiber.

The binder and filler are not fully disclosed. Some local tobacco from the Manica Province in Mozambique is used. Bongani is also growing tobacco in Nigeria. As for the wrapper, Bongani is using its African roots. A true Cameroon wrapper is used to create the cigar. The cigars are then aged in boxes of cedarwood from Ghana. The Ghanian cedar possesses a rich, unique scent which is giving the cigars a unique flavor. There is only one vitola available for the moment, a 5×50 robusto.

Since Bogani does not have a distribution network yet, the company resorts to direct-to-customer sales over the internet. The cigars are available via https://bonganicigars.com