Economy
Vendors Lament as Cost of Key Jollof Rice Ingredients Soars 37.4%
By Bliss Okperan, Adedapo Adesanya
The cost of cooking a pot of jollof rice, one of the most consumed foods daily in Nigeria, has surged by 37.4 per cent, according to research carried out by Business Post.
Using market data and the most recent food price watch by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), major food items in making the delicacy, including rice, groundnut oil, tomatoes, and onions, among others have recorded a massive increase within the past year, making it hard for the average Nigerian to survive.
According to NBS, 1 kilogram of Rice cost N757.06 in 2023 as against N471.42 in the same period of 2022, indicating a 60.6 per cent increase, as 1kg of Groundnut oil hit N1,496.17 in 2023 as against N1113.33, indicating a 34.4 per cent increase. The price of 1kg of tomatoes was recorded at N565.69 in 2023 versus N445.12, showing a 27.1 per cent increase in the past year and 1kg of onions now cost N515.59, a 28.9 per cent rise from N397.18 in the preceding year.
Using these four food items, preparing the meal would cost around N2,400 to make a pot of the delicacy last year, but with surging costs as a result of biting food inflation, this has risen to N3,330.
Complementary foods to jollof rice have also seen a rise with a bunch of ripe plantains now selling for an average price of N586.43, in contrast to N345.90, 12 months ago, which indicates a 69.5 per cent increase.
Frozen chicken, which previously retailed at N2,569.63 in 2022 recorded a 23.6 per cent increase as it jumped to N3,126.7 per cent and chicken wings cost N1,630.58 in 2023 as against N1,338.82 in 2022, indicating a 21.8 per cent increase.
For fish lovers, they saw 1 kg of frozen Titus fish surge by 22.4 per cent to N2,045.95 against N1,671.45 while the cost of buying one unit of Agric eggs cost N96.00 against its previous cost of N75.07 which indicates 27.9 increase.
Vendors Lament Cost Effect
Nigerians have continued to lament the growing prices of food, fuel, and other daily needs with the Dollar rate triggering a ripple effect in the cost of living. For food vendors, it has been challenging for their businesses.
According to Ms Gift Ogidi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of EatAtYinz Restaurant, “Things are so expensive these days.”
She said the cost of tomatoes has almost tripled and has affected the cost of her soup varieties.
“I bought tomatoes for N6,000 in September and when I wanted to buy that same quantity this month, I was told it is now N15,000. After much bargaining, I bought it for N12,000. This is the same with other foodstuffs. This has affected the price of my meals as I have to review my prices. The annoying thing is that my customers would not understand and sometimes, I run at a loss because I am trying to please my customers.”
For her, “It is painful,” because “I cannot compromise the quality of my food but with the way things are going, Food vendors are left with two choices, reduce the quality and quantity of meals per serving or litre (depending on the package you offer) or increase the prices, well I went with the latter and trust me, business has been slow.”
Also, a street food seller in the Egbeda area of Lagos State identified as Bose, who spoke with this newspaper, said she was considering leaving the business because of the high cost of food items.
“Can you believe that a kilo of frozen turkey is now between N5,200 and N5,500, and chicken is between N3,000 and N3,200, depending on where you buy it. Fish is now also expensive. We find it difficult to make a profit these days,” she said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira opened the new trading week on a negative note on Monday at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) and the black market.
At the parallel market, the Nigerian currency weakened against the US Dollar by N5 to sell for N1,380/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,375/$1, and at the GTBank FX desk, it shed N1 to trade at N1,373/$1 versus N1,372/$1.
At the official market, it lost 63 Kobo or 0.05 per cent against the Dollar during the session to close at N1,362.84/$1, in contrast to last Friday’s value of N1,362.21/$1.
However, the Nigerian Naira gained N2.30 against the Pound Sterling at the spot market yesterday, quoting at N1,821.29/£1 compared with the previous rate of N1,823.59/£1, and improved against the Euro by 23 Kobo to settle at N1,574.35/€1 versus N1,574.58/€1.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that interbank forex turnover increased to $92.248 million across 90 deals, from $73.565 million last Friday.
On the policy front, participants believed that the application of the fourth edition of the Foreign Exchange Manual of the central bank, which introduces updated guidelines for foreign exchange transactions and tightening compliance requirements for authorised dealers and market participants, will enhance market flexibility and ease previous restrictions.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market snapped from recent declines, jolted by Strategy’s purchase of 1,550 Bitcoin for approximately $101 million, increasing its total holdings to 845,256 BTC. The company raised $181 million through common stock sales, using the proceeds to fund the bitcoin purchase and increase its cash reserves to $1 billion, pushing the price of the coin higher by 3.2 per cent to $63,731.69.
Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 8.4 per cent to $0.1738, Ethereum (ETH) rose by 5.2 per cent to $1,711.54, Solana (SOL) expanded by 5.1 per cent to $67.82, and Ripple (XRP) improved by 4.9 per cent to $1.18.
Further, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 4.3 per cent to $0.0873, Binance Coin (BNB) soared by 2.7 per cent to $609.50, and TRON (TRX) increased by 0.7 per cent to $0.3274, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $0.9997 and $0.9998, respectively.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The federal government has been advised to consider exploring other funding sources to finance its budget deficits.
Speaking with Punch recently, the chief executive of CSA Advisory, Mr Aliyu Ilias, said the current appetite for borrowing by the government cannot be sustained because it elevates debt-servicing costs.
The economist suggested the sale of some public assets and the involvement of the private sector in infrastructure financing for economic growth.
According to him, running to the debt markets to raise funds for the government is not the best route to take, as the reliance on borrowing always leads to higher debt-servicing obligations.
“The more you borrow, the more you are also incurring more debt services,” he said, tasking the government to also capitalise on increased oil revenues stemming from ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
“The government can actually sell off some of their assets to raise more money. The government can also, if you look at the revenue we are getting from oil, it’s getting more, especially with this war. It’s another opportunity for us to actually not borrow again,” Mr Ilias submitted.
He also pointed to ongoing tax reforms as another avenue to improve government finances and narrow the fiscal gap.
“The government can also look at tax reform. The fact is that the government does not have money. The only chance for getting more money is to address the financial deficit,” he added.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude oil was up by $1 on Monday as Iran and Israel said they had halted attacks on each other following an appeal from US President Donald Trump.
Brent crude futures gained $1.16 or 1.3 per cent to trade at $94.25 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 76 cents or 0.8 per cent to $91.30 per barrel.
Iran’s military said Monday it halted attacks on Israel after the two countries exchanged their most intense strikes in months, further straining an already shaky ceasefire as well as the US-Israeli relationship. Iran, however, said it would resume strikes if Israel continued to hit Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel also halted attacks on Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, stopping short of acknowledging a ceasefire that US President Donald Trump said the countries were aiming for.
President Trump said earlier that the US blockade, which was introduced in April, would remain in place “in full force” until a final peace agreement between the two warring nations is reached.
Prices gained more than 5 per cent earlier on Monday after renewed Israeli strikes on Iran and attacks on Lebanon had reduced hopes of an imminent end to the wider war.
Market analysts noted that because of the strikes, investors were concerned that flows through the Strait of Hormuz might remain restricted for longer. Roughly a fifth of the world’s daily supply of oil and liquefied natural gas passed through the waterway before US-Israeli airstrikes at the end of February unleashed the latest escalation of the Middle Eastern conflict.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday they would ban ships linked to Israel from the Red Sea after Israel renewed its military attacks on Iran, adding to concerns about global shipping and energy flows.
In the face of the supply crisis, a sub-group under the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) on Sunday agreed on its fourth oil output target increase in four months. The seven members decided to increase targets by 188,000 barrels per day from July, the same as the June hike, which was adjusted down from monthly increases of 206,000 barrels per day in May and April to take into account the exit of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
On paper, the sub-group has increased its output quotas from April to June by almost 600,000 barrels per day, but in reality, the group’s production has collapsed due to export cuts by Gulf members, averaging 33.19 million barrels per day in April compared with 42.77 million barrels per day in February.
Saudi Arabia has cut its official selling prices for crude oil to Asia in July for a second month.
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