ABIDJAN: Ivory Coast's new agricultural commodities exchange will begin operations late next month by listing of raw cashew nuts, kola nuts and corn, its chief executive said on Tuesday.

Housed in the regional securities exchange, the commodities exchange was created to provide a reliable market for products whose sales are now negotiated directly between buyers and sellers.

"The agricultural commodities exchange will provide a price benchmark that serves as a basis for negotiating national and international commercial contracts," Edoh Kossi Amenounve, head of West Africa's BRVM bourse, told Reuters.

The exchange also expects to eventually list natural rubber and palm oil, but has not indicated any plans for Ivory Coast's top export, cocoa, which is traded on international markets.

Ivory Coast's government has also started to build new warehouses in response to a crippling lack of storage facilities that has limited producers' access to financing, Amenounve said.