The inflation rate in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) countries registered a slight decrease of 0.4 percentage point in September 2020 compared to the previous month, according to data from the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO).
This rate would come out, over one year, to 2.9% at the end of September 2020, after an achievement of 3.3% in August 2020. According to the issuing body, “the deceleration in the rate of increase of the general level prices in September 2020 is printed in particular by the Food and Alcoholic Beverages components, whose overall contribution to total inflation came out at 2.3 percentage points against 2.6 percentage points in August 2020, in connection with an easing the prices of edible oils and fresh vegetables, particularly in Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal ”.
Thus remaining the primary source of price increases, the increase in the Food component is linked to the increase in the prices of local cereals recorded in Niger (+ 57%), Mali (+ 48%) and Burkina (+47 %), particularly in relation to the drop in agricultural production for the 2019/2020 campaign, coupled with insufficient supply to the markets.
The services of the BCEAO also note an increase in the price of fresh vegetables as well as tubers and plantains in Benin and Togo, due to the persistence of disruption of distribution channels caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
