Emmanuel Onuorah, the President of the Premium Breadmakers Association of Nigeria, has announced an impending increase in bread prices ranging from 15 to 20 percent, set to take effect in January 2024.
In a candid interview with Channels Television on Wednesday, Onuorah attributed the anticipated surge in prices to a combination of factors, including elevated cargo clearance expenses imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, ongoing fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, and rising energy costs.
Highlighting the challenging economic conditions prevalent in the country, Onuorah emphasized a significant 70 percent reduction in the production capacity of bread bakers. He pointed to the cascading effect on bread and flour counts, revealing that those previously handling 100-200 bags are now struggling with a mere 20-25 bags.
“Onuorah lamented, “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.”
Expressing concern over the impact of increased importation costs, Onuorah urged the government to redirect taxes collected from imported wheat towards fostering domestic wheat production and overall sector improvement.
“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 stressed.
The cost of jumbo-sized bread witnessed a sharp increase from N1,000 in January 2023 to N1,400 in December of the same year. This upward trend is attributed to the surge in the cost of production materials, including flavor (increasing from N9,000 in January to N12,000 in December 2023), flour (climbing from N30,000 to N43,000), sugar (jumping from N30,500 to N49,000), and yeast (surging from N23,000 to N44,000). As consumers brace themselves for the impending price hike, the plea for government intervention in supporting the local bread production industry echoes among industry leaders.
