Rice Prices Surge to Record in Nigeria as Tinubu’s Food Policies Falter

(Bloomberg) -- The price for a key ingredient to make Nigeria’s favorite jollof rice dish more than doubled to a record this year, showing the government’s struggle in controlling the cost-of-living crisis facing Africa’s most populous nation.

Prices in Lagos for a 50 kilogram (110.2 pounds) bag of rice, the main ingredient for making jollof, jumped 8% in December to 75,000 naira ($48.5) from the previous month, according to a market survey by consultancy SBM Intelligence, which publishes the jollof index. Other ingredients including vegetable oil, onions and chicken also rose in the survey done on Wednesday. In Abuja, the nation’s capital, rice was selling at 99,000 naira for a 50 kilogram bag.

In a nation where the minimum wage is 70,000 naira a month, rising food prices means two out of three Nigerian households are going hungry, according to the nation’s statistics agency.

That’s led to riots and stampedes as President Bola Tinubu’s administration struggles to curb inflation. The government’s attempts to control prices by declaring a state of emergency to improve food security, and then suspending import duties, have not worked.

“Cost of feeding has been on a steady increase and Nigerians are not finding it easy,” said Stanley Ikechukwu, head of operations at SBM Intelligence. People are “just living everyday as it comes and hoping that the so-called government policies take a positive turn or there will be trouble in 2025,” he said.

In August, protesters marched through the streets in several Nigerian states chanting “we are hungry.” As many as 21 people were killed in the unrest that month, while last week about 48 people including 35 children died in stampedes in three different locations as charities handed out food, the police said in a post on X on Dec. 21.

“We earnestly pray that such misfortunes do not revisit our families and communities and that the lives of innocents are never again cut short,” Tinubu said in his Christmas message on Tuesday, while referring to the stampedes.

Nigeria’s annual inflation rate reached a 28-year high of 34.6% in November, with food inflation accelerating at 39.9%, according to the nation’s statistics agency. Prices have sustained their upward pressure despite the central bank raising the key interest rate by 875 basis points this year to a record 27.5% in November.

Tinubu has removed the currency’s peg to the dollar and ended fuel subsidies since taking office in 2023. His moves have been lauded by investors but pushed up prices. The president at a briefing on Dec. 23 said that he has no plans to impose price controls. Instead, he said the government has ordered 2,000 tractors and plans other incentives to boost food output.

“Everything is very expensive, take onions for example: people cannot afford to buy onions especially in the quantity they want because of the high price,” Ikechukwu said.