The average price of Household Kerosene grew by 96.79% in the last year, according to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). A litre of Kerosene was sold for N1,160.67 in April 2023, up from N589.82 in April 2022.

On a monthly basis, the price of the commodity rose by 1.59% from N1,142.46 a litre recorded in March 2023 to N1,160.67 in April 2023.

Breaking down prices in states, Adamawa records the most expensive per litre at N1,600 while Abuja followed with N1,382.10 and Bauchi with N1,320.50.

On the other hand, the lowest price was recorded in Jigawa with N925.25, followed by Kaduna with N950.50 and Edo with N965.85.

In addition, analysis by zone showed that the North-East recorded the highest average retail price per litre of Household Kerosene with N1,273.53, followed by the South-East with N1,265.71 while North-West recorded the lowest with N1,014.19.

The average retail price per gallon of Household Kerosene paid by consumers in April 2023 was N4,166.94, showing an increase of 1.50% from N4,105.25 in March 2023. On a year-on-year basis, this increased by 95.03% from N2,136.52 in April 2022.

On state profile analysis, Lagos recorded the highest average retail price per gallon of Household Kerosene with N4,990.25, followed by Katsina with N4,925.00 and Zamfara with N4,883.20. On the other hand, Delta recorded the lowest price with N2,500.15, followed by Rivers and Bayelsa with N3,000.00 and N3,208.34 respectively.

Analysis by zone showed that the North West recorded the highest average retail price per gallon of Household Kerosene with N4,580.50 followed by the North East with N4534.61 while the South South recorded the lowest with N3,249.59.

The Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA has given hints on the necessities for the country to be among the full beneficiaries of the $3.4 trillion offered by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

Investors King reports that improvement in its Customs services and reduction in the cost of doing business in Nigeria have been advised.

According to the Managing Director of NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko, Nigeria must upgrade its electronic customs and customs services, thereby improving the country’s Customs System.

He noted that adequate measures should be taken to ensure quality standards and proper checks of cargoes.

His words, “About 55 African countries are involved in this. Our own responsibility is to ensure trade facilitation. So, for Nigeria to gain in this, we need to ensure there are standardisation and quality checks of cargoes. 

“Nigeria needs to improve its Customs processes. We need to update our e-Custom and Customs services. We need to reduce the local cost of doing business. We need to reduce the bureaucracy and then there must also be awareness.”

Speaking on the efforts of the government so far, the NPA MD said sensitisation programmes were conducted to enlighten Nigerians on the benefits of AfCFTA.

He applauded the government for its steps so far and urged them to improve trade facilitations across its agencies.

Bello-Koko further explained that the Nigerian Ports Authority on its part has set up export processing terminals to aid export processes.

He noted that the NPA is partnering with the National Export Promotion Council to ensure that the domestic export houses are linked to the Electronic Call-Up System for prompt service delivery.

“For us in NPA, what we have done is that we have set up export processing terminals. The essence is to improve the quality of exports, especially agro exports. This reduces time wastages and the incidences of some of our agro cargoes going out of the country and arriving at the port of destination spoilt. So, we are working with the NCS to ensure that these things improve,” the NPA Boss said.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown that prices of selected food items increased in November. 

According to the NBS Selected Food Prices Watch Report for November 2022, released in Abuja on Monday, the average price of 1kg rice (local) increased on a year-on-year basis by 18.95 percent from N421.02 in November 2021 to N500.80 in November 2022.

While on a month-on-month basis, the average price of 1kg rice (local) increased by 2.73 percent from N487.47 recorded in October 2022.

Similarly, the report added that the average price of 1kg of tomato on a year-on-year basis rose by 30.18 percent from N350.15 in November 2021 to N455.13 in November 2022. 

While on a month-on-month basis, 1 kg of tomato increased by 0.15 percent from N454.46 recorded in October 2022.

Also, the report showed that the average price of 1kg brown beans (sold loose) rose by 18.03 percent on a year-on-year basis from N490.19 recorded in November 2021 to N578.55 in November 2022.

While on a month-on-month basis, the price rose by 2.45 percent from N564.69 recorded in October 2022

Investors King understands that the increase in the price of the selected foods is a result of inflation which has astronomically increased the price of goods in the market.

Similarly, several Nigerians have been affected by low purchasing power leading to low Christmas celebrations in many homes.

It could be observed that market patronage during this period was not at its peak as expected. 

In Abuja for instance, a number of malls and shop owners around the popular Wuse Areas had lamented low patronage, noting that customers are being shy away from goods because of the increased prices. 

However, for many Nigerians, 2022 has been the most challenging year, with 21.47 percent year-on-year inflation, increased insecurity, a 33.3 percent unemployment rate, a high poverty rate, slow Gross Domestic Product, (GDP) growth rate, among other economic miseries.