High cost of living in Burkina Faso: “It’s beyond us!” »

Burkina Faso has been experiencing a particular situation in recent weeks, with the prices of basic necessities soaring. The cost of certain products on the market has gone from double to double and even more, leaving the average citizen in total disarray.

At the Paglayiri market, south of Ouagadougou, the Burkinabe capital, the aisles are sparse, highlighting the scarcity of customers who have enormous difficulty coming to do their shopping.

According to Lucie Yerbanga, owner of a store in this market, the phenomenon began last October. “It’s beyond us. Rice, oil, everything has increased. We don’t even know where to go,” she confided to BBC Africa’s correspondent in the country. These increases are beyond the reach of the average Burkinabè.

The liter of oil, according to her, was 1,000 FCFA. But since October, the price has skyrocketed and is now at 1,400 FCFA. “We paid 22,000 FCFA for 50kg of rice. Today it has become 25 or 26,000 FCFA,” she says.

The situation seems untenable for the resellers themselves who are unable to sell their goods properly. “You see us sitting here, we don’t work, we don’t sell. It’s complicated,” adds Ms. Yerbanga.

In a cereal store a little further away in the same Paglayiri market, Marturin Zida leaves very disappointed by what he had just noticed. According to him, there is no explanation for the day-to-day price fluctuation.

“Each time, there is not a fixed price,” he regrets. For him, the average Burkinabè who earns less than 100,000 FCFA cannot get by. Corn, rice and oil have seen their prices rise on the market.

“Life has become expensive here. You can buy today and the day after you come back and they tell you that the price has increased, in the same place,” says Mr. Zida.

The debate on the increase in basic necessities mainly concerns the price of oils. Indeed, Burkinabè is a large consumer of oil, whether it is cotton oil, peanut oil or palm oil, according to officials of the Burkinabè Consumers’ League (LBC).

Unfortunately, the price of oil has increased exponentially, leaving households speechless. “The can of oil was 17,000 FCFA. But today, it is found among certain sellers at 22,000 or 23,000 FCFA. It’s too much,” underlines Maturnin Zida, who adds that he does not understand where such a surprising increase comes from.

“Everything has increased in the market. But as far as oil prices are concerned, it’s too much,” adds Lucie Yerbanga.

The country’s authorities are not indifferent to the situation which is becoming more and more unbearable for the population. Moreover, the switchboard of the Ministry in charge of Commerce, according to the price control department, has not stopped ringing, people wanting to understand what is really happening.

Olivier Kiema, Director General of Economic Control and Fraud Repression at the Ministry of Commerce, indicates that the surge in the price of basic necessities is not the fault of traders. “This is not a unilateral increase for traders,” he said straight away.

“After looking for the origins, we discovered that for example in terms of oils, only 20% of oils are produced locally, although it is mainly cottonseed oil. Currently the campaign has not yet started,” he says, specifying that 70% of the oils that the Burkinabè use are imported oils which come in particular from Indonesia, Togo and the Ivory Coast, even if it 5% arrive from these last two countries.

“This is to say that the increases that we have observed are mainly at the international level,” he adds.

Mr. Kiema notes that in Ivory Coast, it is mainly palm oil that is imported into Burkina. “There, we found that it was due to a bad palm season. The production was not good. This means that there are export restrictions at this level.”

Burkina Faso’s largest oil supplier is Indonesia, according to him. The Director General of Economic Control and Fraud Repression indicates that there are three phenomena that we are witnessing at the supplier.

“First, there is the increase in the dollar. In October the price was at 597 CFA. Today we are at 637 CFA,” he explains. Then, he continues, there is the oil itself which has seen an increase in its price. And finally the cost of transport. “It seems that we can’t even find containers to import the oils to Burkina Faso.”

The Ministry of Commerce therefore regularly monitors these increases through its controls. “Often it is justified”, according to Olivier Kiema who says to watch for traders who are tempted to exaggerate in terms of prices on the market in Burkina.

In this type of situation, the authorities recognize that there are traders who overbid. This is why the Ministry of Commerce is vigilant to limit the exaggeration of product prices.

“As soon as the importers arrive, we go and take their price composition sheet. We look at their charges and their prices that they offered. If it is not justified, we can sanction them for that,” says Olivier Kiema.

The latter warns traders because, he says, his institution has received firm instructions to control and sanction them. “Any slippage will be punished in accordance with the law. That is to say, when there is an exaggerated increase in prices or reductions in product quantities, we will be firm. The store will be closed until further notice.”

He adds that if the ministry finds products that could threaten the lives of populations, the author “will go to prison”.

At the level of the Burkinabe Ministry of Commerce, there are products whose prices are fixed and, for others, the margins are fixed. “For example at the import level, the State grants 12% of the margins for imported oils, 12% for rice, 15% for sugar. So these are the margins that are fixed,” explains Mr. Kiema.

And therefore importers are controlled on these margins. And there are products for which the State has deemed it necessary to give fixed prices so as not to disrupt the market. This is the example of fuel.

“At the level of cereals, the State cannot set prices without consulting the main stakeholders. It is within a framework of consultation that the State manages to set these prices.”

Olivier Kiema also indicates that the government has given power to governors to set the prices of cereals in their respective localities.

The government says it has taken measures so that the Burkinabè can have access, without too much difficulty, to so-called consumer products.

With the price controls put in place by the country’s authorities, Olivier Kiema indicates that there will be an upward but reasonable trend, before experiencing “a downward trend after a few moments”. He underlines that in terms of cereals, the country is experiencing a downward trend because of the agricultural campaign which “is very good”.

“With the presidential initiative and through the agrosilvopastoral offensive of the Ministry of Agriculture, last October we were at 38,000 FCFA for a 100 kg bag of corn. Today we are at 30,000 FCFA for the same bag,” informs the Director General of Economic Control and Fraud Repression.

He also informs that the government will be firm on unregulated exports. For him, cereals from Burkina which had a good campaign this year. But people will be tempted to export this cereal to neighboring countries which are in difficulty with their agricultural seasons. This is where the State will intervene, according to him.

“If we catch people exporting grain, they will be punished according to the law. The export of cereals is prohibited until further notice,” warns Mr. Kiema.

The market price control service continues its investigations and is hard at work to curb the phenomenon. According to the Director General of Economic Control and Fraud Repression, this increase in the prices of basic necessities is temporary.

“With the production of oils in Indonesia, we hope that within a month, we will see a drop in these prices. We ask consumers to be patient,” he projects.

He recognizes that this is a very difficult period that the population is going through, but calls on consumers “to support the government and above all to avoid random accusations”, given, according to him, that the Ministry of Commerce is playing its role in price control.