Two top agencies within the country have recently agreed to strengthen their partnership toward protecting Nigerian consumers from exploitation. Nigerian markets reportedly experience arbitrary price hikes as traders anticipate rising inflation rates.
Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have pledged to strengthen their collaboration to protect Nigerian consumers from exploitation. Both parties committed while the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive, FCCPC, Mr. Tunji Bello, paid a courtesy visit to the Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Olanipekun Olukoyede, in Abuja.
While commending the EFCC’s efforts in investigating and monitoring crimes in the nation, Mr. Bello expressed concerns over growing cases of arbitrary price hikes in the country. At the same time, the FCCPC boss sought a partnership between both agencies to create a fair and equitable market for consumers nationwide.
The collaboration occurred within one week after the FCCPC declared its intentions to engage market leaders nationwide in stemming exploitative pricing on consumer goods. Nigeria’s inflation rate eased to 33.4% in July 2024, easing for the first time in almost two years and down from a 28-year-high of 34.19%.
Meanwhile, food inflation has headlined price hikes in the West African nation as experts identify monetary and exchange factors as leading factors. Consequently, a significant portion of the country’s market leaders adjusted to the prices of goods and services in anticipation of the country’s erratic and skyrocketing inflation rate. However, these price hikes were often linked to greed and exploitation rather than a direct consequence of growing inflation rates.
With a fresh resolve coming between the EFCC and the FCCPC, expectations are that related market malpractices, including arbitrary price hikes, will diminish within Africa’s largest economy.
