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
Afriland Properties Plc helped the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange record a 0.04 per cent gain on Tuesday, December 10 as the share price of the property investment rose by 34 Kobo to N16.94 per unit from the preceding day’s N16.60 per unit.
As a result of this, the market capitalisation of the bourse went up by N380 million to remain relatively unchanged at N1.056 trillion like the previous trading day.
But the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) closed higher at 3,014.36 points after it recorded an addition of 1.09 points to Monday’s closing value of 3,013.27 points.
The NASD OTC securities exchange recorded a price loser and it was Geo-Fluids Plc, which went down by 2 Kobo to close at N3.93 per share, in contrast to the preceding day’s N3.95 per share.
During the trading session, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors increased by 95.8 per cent to 2.4 million units from the 1.2 million securities traded in the preceding session.
However, the value of shares traded yesterday slumped by 3.7 per cent to N4.9 million from the N5.07 million recorded a day earlier, as the number of deals surged by 27.3 per cent to 14 deals from 11 deals.
Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units sold for N3.9 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units worth N5.3 million.
Also, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units worth N89.2 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units sold for N5.3 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira continued to appreciate on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), gaining 0.7 per cent or N10.23 on Tuesday, December 10 to trade at N1,542.27/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,552.50/$1.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-backed Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform introduced to tackle speculation and improve transparency in Nigeria’s FX market has been attributed as the source of the Naira’s appreciation.
Speculators holding foreign currencies, particularly the US Dollar, have seen the value of their money drastically drop due to the appreciation of the local currency. This is forcing them to dump greenback into the system and take the domestic currency alternative- a move that has seen available FX increase.
Equally, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the trading day by N6.81 to sell for N1,955.12/£1 compared with Monday’s closing price of N1,961.93/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N10.84 to close at N1,613.00/€1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,623.84/€1.
Data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange showed that the value of forex transactions significantly increased yesterday by $228.85 million or 257.2 per cent to $401.17 million from the preceding session’s $112.32 million.
However, in the parallel market, the Nigerian currency weakened against the US Dollar on Tuesday by N5 to settle at N1,625/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,620/$1.
In the cryptocurrency market, Dogecoin (DOGE) lost 4.8 per cent to sell at $0.39116, Litecoin (LTC) depreciated by 3.3 per cent to trade at $110.25, Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 2.3 per cent to $681.44, Ethereum (ETH) dropped 1.6 per cent to finish at $3,671.08, and Cardano (ADA) slid by 0.5 per cent to $0.8837
Conversely, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 5.4 per cent to $2.23 amid a continued shift for the coin with its parent company seeing the benefits of a crypto-friendly regulatory environment for US-based companies.
XRP is closely related to Ripple Labs, a high-profile payments company targeted by the SEC in 2020 on allegations of selling the token as a security to U.S. investors. Ripple fully cleared a long-drawn court case in 2024.
Further, Solana (SOL) expanded by 0.8 per cent to $219.75, Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 0.4 per cent to $97,446.95, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices rose on Tuesday, influenced by increasing demand in China, the world’s largest buyer, as well as developments in Europe and Syria, with Brent crude futures closing at $72.19 per barrel after chalking up 5 cents or 0.07 per cent while the US West Texas Intermediate finished at $68.59 a barrel after it gained 22 cents or 0.32 per cent.
China will adopt an “appropriately loose” monetary policy in 2025 as the world’s largest oil importer tries to spur economic growth. This would be the first easing of its stance in 14 years.
Chinese crude imports also grew annually for the first time in seven months, jumping in November on a year-on-year basis.
Speculation about winter demand in Europe also contributed to the rise in prices as the period has been known for high demand.
In Syria, rebels were working to form a government and restore order after the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad, with the country’s banks and oil sector set to resume work on Tuesday.
Although Syria itself is not a major oil producer, it is strategically located and has strong ties with Russia and Iran – two of the world’s largest oil producers.
Market analysts noted that the tensions in the Middle East seem contained, which led market participants to price for potentially low risks of a wider regional spillover leading to significant oil supply disruption.
The market is also looking forward to the US Federal Reserve, which is expected to make a 25 basis point cut to interest rates at the end of its December 17-18 meeting.
This move could improve oil demand in the world’s biggest economy, though traders are waiting to see if this week’s inflation data derails the cut.
Crude oil inventories in the US rose by 499,000 barrels for the week ending November 29, according to The American Petroleum Institute (API). Analysts had expected a draw of 1.30 million barrels.
For the week prior, the API reported a 1.232-million barrel build in crude inventories.
So far this year, crude oil inventories have fallen by roughly 3.4 million barrels since the beginning of the year, according to API data.
Official data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released later on Wednesday.
Also, the market is getting relief from the recent decision of selected members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+ to delay the rollback of 2.2 million barrels per day of oil production cuts to April from January. Another 3.6 million barrels per day in output reductions across the OPEC+ group has been extended to the end of 2026 from the end of 2025.
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