The drop in prices of sugar, oil, rice and bread has not yet taken effect in Ziguinchor. Traders sold yesterday, the effective date, at prices before the government measure. A trip to the Saint-Maur de Boucotte market made this observation possible.
By Khady SONKO – The drop in prices of consumer foodstuffs has not yet taken effect in Ziguinchor. At the Saint-Maur de Boucotte market, this measure, which was to come into force yesterday, is on everyone’s lips, but not applied. Here, prices remain unchanged. “There has been no change. I apply the same prices as before the Tabaski festival. On the market, there is an increase on certain products, a decrease on others, but the prices remain the same at home,” said Baye Zal, owner of a wholesale and semi-wholesale store very popular with retail traders. especially the shopkeepers of the villages bordering the commune of Ziguinchor. The sky threatens to rain on this rather hot morning. Few people are still in this inert market today. There are more traders than buyers. However, not all stores have opened. The Tabaski festival, which passed more than a week ago, seems to be continuing.
“There was already a drop before the Tabaski party. Let’s give thanks to Gambia, prices are more affordable here, because many products come from Gambia. If it came from Dakar, this reduction would not be possible,” Diallo quips. This wholesaler, quietly seated at the back of his store, manipulates his smartphone, waiting for potential customers.
“We still sell at the same price, but we are going to lower it and comply with the measure. The most important thing is that the wholesalers themselves accept and comply, so we will have no problem lowering prices, because we do not want to harm anyone, especially our customers. But the prices were already affordable. We sold a liter of oil for 1000 CFA francs, 20 liters for 18 thousand. The kg of sugar at 650 francs, but we are going to do it at 600 francs. Rice for 450 francs,” promises the young trader Ibou. A few rare customers frequent its canteen. “The few customers I have had have not asked us to apply the new prices. Yet everyone is aware of the measure. There aren’t even any customers because of Tabaski. The market is still empty,” laments the retailer.
Indeed, the Saint-Maur de Boucotte market is deserted compared to the days before Tabaski when it was difficult to make your way. Today, there are more sellers than buyers and traders are twiddling their thumbs.
“There is no decline yet. I bought at the same prices. We must help apply the reduction, we need it.
We are aware of the reduction measure, but on the market, we have not noticed anything,” reacts Sadio Kébé, who has just bought a kg of sugar at 650 CFA francs instead of 600 francs as announced in the measure. government.
Further on, Fatou, a young lady, welcomes the measure which is not yet effective. “I’m looking forward to the drop. Life is hard, because everything is expensive. Even if this reduction is small, it will give us some relief,” the young lady hopes. Modou sells a kg of sugar for 600 francs, rice for 450 francs.
“I am waiting for the wholesalers, my suppliers, to lower prices. But I sell sugar for 600 francs, oil for 1000 francs,” he confides. Concerning bread, the baguette is still sold at 200 CFA francs at the kiosks, to the great dismay of the population.
The price of bread, like those of other commodities affected by the reduction measure, has not yet seen a drop, at least on the date the measure came into force.
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