LAGOS (NIGERIA) – When Melanie Igbe’s restaurant opened in Lagos a year ago, it used to host 50 people a day. Now fear of the pandemic has driven away patrons. However, Igbe believes that inflation rather than the pandemic may finish off her business.
Ever since Cafe de Elyon opened in January last year, the price of basic ingredients has spiralled. This was weeks before the first coronavirus case in the country was diagnosed in Lagos. Last month, food inflation was 19.56% after rising for 16 months at a stretch.
“This has really, really crippled us,” said Igbe, who was forced to slash her staff from seven to five in recent months. She fears that the outlet would have to be closed permanently if the costs continue to go up.
White onions, which are commonly used in many of her dishes, cost 1,000 naira ($2.62) compared with 300 when her eatery opened. She said she did not increase the price of dishes in order to retain patrons, who now mostly visit to take away dishes.
The nation is facing a second recession in four years, sparked by a price crash in oil, hammering state revenue and weakening the currency. That led to imports becoming costlier.
It is restaurants and wholesale dealers who have felt the pinch.
“Prices really spiked,” said Tina Shaire, head chef at Zolene restaurant in Lagos, blaming the nation’s border closures for blocking access to cheap imports.
In a bid to combat smuggling and the spread of the pandemic, the closures began in August 2019 and went on until December. Although the borders reopened last month, prices are still high.