Nigeria: Ramadan comes with rising food prices

A market in Lagos, Nigeria.

© RFI Hausa

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

Ramadan begins this Tuesday, April 13 in Nigeria and like every year, religious authorities ask wholesalers not to increase food prices disproportionately.

The month of Ramadan often corresponds to a sharp rise in food prices, while the most populous country in Africa already faces 17% inflation on food products.

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With our correspondent in Lagos

,

Liza Fabbian

After a year marked by recession and the economic and health crisis, many Nigerians have become impoverished.

Jamila, a Muslim from Togo, notes that in recent times the prices of corn or beans have more than doubled on the market.

“ 

We went to the market to buy, no need we didn't buy, we went home.

It has increased, we see the beans, the price of which has increased a lot

.

"

The price of staple foods swells

Every year, traders take advantage of Ramadan to inflate the prices of basic foodstuffs.

A difficult situation as Nigeria faces unprecedented inflation: according to the National Bureau of Statistics, food prices have never been so high for 12 years.

The high demand during the Muslim month stirs up the greed of sellers, according to Ola: “ 

Many rich people want to do charity for the poor.

So instead of just buying a bag of rice, they're going to buy 200. So the prices go up.

For us small buyers, a bag of rice costs twice as much during this period

.

"

Call for traders

Nigerian religious authorities have appealed to traders to keep prices reasonable during Ramadan.

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See also: Uganda: the imams are organizing for a Ramadan without a large gathering

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