AThen in some neighboring countries the Muslim fast began on April 2, 2022, the faithful in Burkina Faso had to wait until the following day. But faced with inflation dictated by insecurity, the Covid-19 and very recently an international situation with the war in Ukraine, there are those who would have asked for the postponement of Ramadan 2022 if this possibility was debatable. In question, the inaccessibility of foodstuffs, however necessary for the fasters. In recent months, cereals, edible oil, pasta, fish or vegetables have been bought at exorbitant prices, never recorded on the market. An outbreak which, in this country where the majority lives at the rate of daily income, is synonymous with renunciation during this sacred month when it is usually customary to have fun without counting the cost.
Every Ramadan, prices soar
In his fifties, Abdoul Rasmané Ouédraogo is a merchant. He owns a cola shop which adjoins the great mosque of Ouagadougou. A fervent believer, the 50-year-old has rarely missed the Ramadan fast, this meeting which he considers “one of the most important for any Muslim”. For this devotee, as for many others, the time of fasting rhymes with new eating habits. In practice, the moments of breaking the fast are, for example, occasions for veritable feasts to which are invited festive dishes that are absent from the plates on a daily basis because of their high cost.
But Abdoul Rasmané cannot afford such a luxury. The reason is simple: he is counted among the majority of Burkinabè who live from day to day. His daily income barely allows him to support himself and his wife and their five children. On the eve of the start of the fast, anguish can be read on his face. Throughout the day, he was unable to take in more than 1,000 CFA francs – less than 2 euros. Not even the price of three kilos of rice sold at 1,200 CFA francs, or even more. “With such an income, I let you imagine my first day of fasting. It will be necessary to buy cereals, oil, a little sugar for juice, porridge. It’s difficult, even when you have to afford the necessities for small details,” the cola vendor complains.
© Bernard Kabore
“Rising prices are nothing new. I am therefore mentally prepared, and I will be satisfied with what I will be able to buy”, resigns Karim Kiemdé, a docker. Every year, before and during Ramadan, on African markets, food prices are subject to a significant increase in price due to demand, because Ramadan may well be the month of fasting, it is also the time of year during which consumption exploded in Muslim countries.
Global context and insecurity
If the low purchasing power is singled out, fasters are still aware of the inflation that is hitting the country and which does not work in their favor. Indeed, for several weeks, even months, the prices of consumer goods have experienced an unprecedented surge in Burkina. Cereals, edible oil, fish, meat, sugar and other products quite popular during this Lenten period have seen their prices go up, according to figures from the National Consumers’ Network of Faso (Rencof), a consumer rights organization. In one week, the kilogram of powdered milk went from 2,600 (3.96 euros) to 3,000 CFA francs. The same mass of fresh fish, the cheapest on the market, can now be bought at 1,100 CFA francs. A liter of oil is sometimes only sold at the price of 1,500 CFA francs, while cereal prices are rising day by day, notes Rencof.
For many, it is not necessary to look far for the reasons for the surge in prices. The insecurity that has plagued the country for seven years now is the main reason for the situation. “It is well known that our country is experiencing massive population displacements due to terrorism. It goes without saying that farmers and other economic actors had to abandon their activities to save their lives. To sum up, the contribution to the economy has weakened, but there are many mouths to feed,” comments docker Karim Kiemdé.
On the other hand, the downturn in the economy is explained by the war in Ukraine from where wheat products are imported, even though the Covid-19 had already dealt a blow to the trade sector with “ a disorganization of the production and transport chains at the global level”, as indicated at the end of February in a report by the Burkinabè Ministry of Commerce. The Department of Commerce mentioned in its report that after months of paralysis, “international maritime traffic has suffered the consequences of a growing recovery in activity”. Anything that resulted in “the scarcity of containers, the overloading of boats and soaring freight costs which thus experienced a vertiginous increase from 800 dollars in March 2019 to 6,500 dollars in August 2021 for the roads maritime Asia/Europe/USA/Africa”.
Hunting speculation without effect
As inflation therapy and as a prelude to Ramadan, the Burkinabe government in mid-March capped the prices of consumer products, such as sugar, one of the most popular foodstuffs during the fasting period. . In shops and convenience stores, a kilogram of powdered sugar should not be sold for more than 600 CFA francs while the amount of a kilogram of sugar in squares is capped at 750 CFA francs. But in practice, sometimes you have to pay a lot more.
This means that the price cap struggles to produce the desired effect, which is to block the way to speculation. In the business community, the blame is blamed on the government. “The state does not put in place fair mechanisms. He does not ask under what conditions the wholesaler sends the goods to the retailer. How it carries, what are its loads. No, the State does not care, it is content to fix prices without providing the means to amortize the costs for economic operators”, criticizes a trader who requested anonymity.
fasting for peace
While waiting for common ground between the government and economic operators to curb prices, the fasters clink glasses by relying on Allah. “If there is one favor above all that we can ask God for this Ramadan, it is to allow our country to regain its former peace. May the millions of displaced people who come to swell the cities be able to return to their localities. That peasant activities are again possible in certain parts of the territory. May the war that is happening on the other side of the world (in Ukraine, editor’s note) come to an end and may the flow of trade resume with renewed vigor”, says, like a rosary, the trader Abdoul Rasmané Ouédraogo, in the hope of best next ramadans.
