Renowned economist Bismarck Rewane has warned that Nigeria’s food inflation is set to rise in the coming weeks, with the price of beans becoming increasingly unaffordable. Speaking on Channels Television on Thursday, Rewane explained that several factors are contributing to the rising cost of food, particularly beans.
According to Rewane, floods that have devastated key farming regions such as Borno, Bauchi, and Sokoto, combined with the high cost of transporting goods from farms to markets, and the recent surge in petrol prices—from ₦600 to around ₦1,000 per liter—are all driving up the cost of food products across the country.
While some food items, including onions and rice, have seen slight reductions in prices, beans has experienced a sharp increase, making it inaccessible for many Nigerians. “Onions have dropped to ₦115,000, and rice is down to ₦110,000 from a high of ₦120,000. But beans has gone out of storage and out of reach,” Rewane said, attributing the price hike to the widespread damage caused by flooding in major agricultural states.
Despite the current challenges, Rewane expressed cautious optimism, noting that the federal government’s introduction of duty waivers on imported food items could help moderate prices in the long term. However, he predicted that food inflation will continue to rise in the short term, with headline inflation potentially reaching 34%.
“When the imported commodities benefiting from duty waivers arrive, we expect prices to start declining,” Rewane stated, emphasizing that the current inflationary pressure is temporary but significant.
