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Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria, is struggling with inflationary pressure, mainly a by-product of Russia’s war with Ukraine, forcing citizens to cut down their consumption patterns. They are buying even essential goods like food in smaller quantities
Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria, is struggling with inflationary pressure, mainly a by-product of Russia’s war with Ukraine, forcing citizens to cut down their consumption patterns. They are buying even essential goods like food in smaller quantities. In some cities like Lagos, water now is sold in small sachets since people do not have the money to buy in bulk. Many live in poverty having only US$2 to spend on a day, which is grossly inadequate to meet both ends, even after pruning down their daily expenses. Everything including edible oil is now packed in small sachets, signifying not only the economic distress the people are undergoing but also environmental hazards since the plastic sachets are littered everywhere.
The oil price hike has come as a double whammy for the oil-rich country. Paradoxically, the oil-rich nation is facing an oil price hike, despite being the highest crude oil producer in the region. The price hike is coming close on the heels of the coronavirus pandemic, which pushed up consumer prices by 17% in 2021 forcing an additional six million Nigerians into poverty.
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Many people observe that price hikes may become an important political issue in the coming general elections when Nigerians are going to pick a new president. Of late, the country has been focussing more on agricultural production to address the heavy import of everything including rice and wheat, which the country has been producing earlier in abundance, earning it the ubiquitous name, the Granary of Africa. Heavy focus on oil production and migration of people from rural areas to urban centers in search of livelihood has affected agriculture. Coupled with this, certain parts of the country are facing law and order problems from Jihadists, creating both political and economic instability.
