Once more, there’s news of an impending rise in bread prices by 15 percent to 20 percent nationwide in January 2024, amidst ongoing economic challenges in Nigeria.
Emmanuel Onuorah, President of the Premium Breadmakers Association of Nigeria, shared this update during an interview with Channels Television on Wednesday. He attributed the planned increase in bread prices to mounting production expenses stemming from higher costs for cargo clearance by the Central Bank of Nigeria, persistent fluctuations in forex rates, and escalating energy expenses.
Onuorah highlighted that bread producers are experiencing a significant 70 percent reduction in production capacity due to the severe economic conditions prevailing in the country.
He urged the government to redirect the tax revenues generated from imported wheat towards bolstering domestic wheat production and the overall development of the sector.
“From January till now, our cost has increased five to tenfold. Our capacity has dropped as much as 70 percent.
“Bread and flour counts have dropped; those doing 100-200 bags before now struggle with 20-25 bags. All of these are a culmination of no money in people’s pockets; Nigerians are drawn into poverty daily because of the economic vulgarities that we find ourselves in Nigeria. It is a tough time for our members and Nigerians.
“Recently, the cost of importation increased, leading to a 15-20 percent price increase in bread from January 2024. You cleared imported goods for N850/$1. Suddenly, the Central Bank of Nigeria jerked it up to N950/$1. Yeast, margarine, ascorbic acid, softener, and wheat are not produced in-country.
“We are begging the federal government to ensure that some of the raw materials for bread are domesticated in Nigeria. Let’s use the money collected from the 15 percent wheat development levy to develop the sector”, he said.
it was reported that the price of bread(jumbo size) jumped from N1,000 in January 2023 to N1,400 in December.
The development comes as the price of materials used for bread production, such as flavour, rose to N12,000 in December 2023 from N9,000 in January, flour to N43,000 from N30,000, Sugar to N49,000 from N30,500 and Yeast to N44,000 from N23,000.
