Starting from July 13, 2022, bakers in Nigeria would be embarking on a 2-week warning strike, unless the government intervenes.
The Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria (AMBCN) said the warning strike became necessary due to the soaring prices of baking materials, especially wheat.
Increase in prices of bakery materials, especially flour and sugar having reached unprecedented levels. For example, flour is now between N25,000 and N27,500, so also other ingredients,” said a part of the communique that was issued to Nigerian bakers.
According to the association, previous attempts to get the government intervene in the matter have failed to yield results. Therefore, it will proceed with the warning strike unless the Federal Government of Nigeria attends to their demand.
Do note that AMBCN’s latest notice regarding the strike is coming barely one month after the association directed its members to increase the prices of bread, biscuits and other confectioneries by 30%.
Much like the rest of Africa, wheat prices in Nigeria have surged significantly in recent months, due to a number of factors, including Russia’s war on Ukraine which has disrupted global wheat supply. As you may well know, many African countries rely on wheat exports from Ukraine and Russia to augment local sources. Both European countries are among the world’s largest wheat producers. Unfortunately, the war has significantly disrupted global what supplies and forcing prices to go up, as nations compete for available supplies.
Last month, bakers in Burkina Faso went on strike after their attempt to increase bread prices due to skyrocketing wheat prices was thwarted by the government.
Across the rest of Africa, both bakers and consumers are continuing to grapple with the adverse impacts of skyrocketing wheat prices, a direct impact of a war that has been widely condemned and deemed unnecessary.
Meanwhile, in a desperate attempt to resolve the situation, the Africa Union Chairman, President Macky Sall, recently visit both Russia and Ukraine where he met with President Putin and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He visited in his capacity as AU President, as lobbied both leaders to end the war so as to lift the blockade on wheat exports and forestall a possible famine in Africa. That meeting has so far failed to yield any results, as the war continues to rage on.
