SOCIO-ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES

Cost of food still proportionally very high in sub-Saharan Africa

By our News Team | 2022

Geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions and increasing energy prices are leading to rising food inflation in the region.

Consumers in Kenya, Nigeria and Angola are among those spending proportionally more for their food, as spending on basic foodstuffs remains high in sub-Saharan Africa compared with other emerging and developing countries.

A document published by international research company Euromonitor, entitled 10 Key Socioeconomic Facts About Sub-Saharan Africa, notes that geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions and increasing energy prices are leading to rising food inflation, further constraining consumers’ purchasing power in the region.

A cassava farmer arranges his tubers while he waits for buyers at Elekara market in Oyo, Nigeria. Photo credit: Tenisnaps via Wikimedia Commons

This purchasing power has been under strain for some time, given low income levels. Of the nine SSA countries surveyed (Kenya, Nigeria, Angola, Uganda, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania, Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa), South African consumers fare best when it comes to spending on food as a proportion of their total income. Tanzania is second best and Côte d’Ivoire is third best.

The statistics are for 2021, with Euromonitor noting that: “countries heavily affected by food inflation were those with among the largest spending on food and non-alcoholic beverages, namely Ethiopia, Angola and Nigeria”.

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