Foodstuff prices drop in Douala

The closure of the borders with Nigeria has to a certain extent put smiles on the faces of most average city dwellers in Douala. Prices of foodstuff that were crippling to the top as the year edged towards end-of-year festivities have witnessed a sharp drop, offering families which lived averagely a wide range of opportunities to have square meals.

At ‘Marché des chèvres’, a bundle of about 1kg of eru which used to be sold at FCFA 1,000 now sells between FCFA 600 and FCFA 700. Similar quantity of water fufu which sold at FCFA 200, now sells at FCFA 150. A cup of groundnut from the North of Cameroon has dropped from FCFA 250 to FCFA 125, the dotted grain formerly sold at FCFA 300 has gone down to FCFA 200. Garri is also facing a similar trend, having gone down from FCFA 6,000 to FCFA 5,000 per 15 litres at ‘Marché des pommes’.

Odette Stephanie who retails garri attributed the change in the prices to more supplies in the local markets. “We buy at a reduced price, so we retail at reduced rates too,” she says, noting “Before now, suppliers sold more to exporters. But now we are given more with the borders that have been closed between our country and Nigeria”. Atanga Merilyn, bulk seller of eru, says the abundance of the products is due to a halt in export to Nigeria following border closures.

Meye Gladys, a buyer we met a Marché des chèvres, says with just FCFA 2,500 she is able to feed a family of six members per day as opposed to FCFA 4,500 last August. Samuel Aimé, a restaurant manager in New Bell, says the drop has no major significance: “This drop concerns just foodstuff. We pay more for manufactured products that were imported from Nigeria. We are paying back this drop with excessively higher prices on rubbing oils, cutlery and loin cloth from Nigeria.”