Washington DC, (GS). Thousands of Ghanaians living in the Washington DC metropolitan area are complaining about the rising cost of food prices in African grocery stores across the region. Prices of staples such as cooking oil, rice, smoked fish, and the popular goat meat which is prized by many Ghanaian residents have reached astronomical prices.
African grocery store operators are not happy either. Many say their profit margins have been severely affected due to the rising cost of freight, unavailability of merchandise as a result of the global supply chain bottlenecks, and inflation that remains at a 40-year high in the U.S.
During a visit to the Makola International Food Market located in the Hybla Valley Shopping Center in Alexandria Virginia, it was business as usual, except that traffic to the otherwise always packed store was a little bit muted. Some shoppers who spoke with Ghanaspeak.com said before the covid pandemic engulfed the world, the most expensive items on their monthly bills were rent and mortgage, and car payments. However, food prices that have been rising since the onset of the pandemic have reached an almost unbearable level, eclipsing rent and car payments in some instances.
Mr. Joseph Boateng, a native of Domeabra in the Ashanti region who emigrated to the United States with his family about a decade ago, said before the global pandemic and its attendant supply chain issues which have caused a scarcity of goods, his average grocery bill for a family of five hovered around $600.00 per month. Currently, he spends over $1,200 per month just to feed his family, leaving him with very little to save and remit his extended family back in Ghana. “I used to send $200 to support my ailing mom every month before the pandemic, but right now I can barely afford to send even $100 to support her, the situation is terrible”, he narrative.
The Managing Director of Makola International Food Market, Gordon Agyekum, in an interview, blamed rising inflation and supply chain issues for the rising cost of the merchandise in general at most African stores. Mr. Agyekum said the price of some items including cooking oil, yam, and imported smoked fish has risen over 200% in the past couple of years. This has caused shoppers to be a bit skittish in their buying decisions, leading to about a 20% drop in sales and profit.
At the Adum Tropical International Food Market on Richmond Highway, the situation was no different from the other African grocery stores Ghanaspeak.com visited. The owner, Mr. Kofi Adjei, said the volume of sales has reduced remarkably. He said a lot of his Ghanaian customers have been complaining about the price of food in his store, and he tries his best to explain to them that the increases are due to factors beyond his control. Many shoppers thought the African grocery stores were deliberately ripping them off due to the unique nature of the tropical foods they sell but that is far from reality.
Grocery items are not the only merchandise that has seen a marked rise in prices. Nana Afua Bour owns and operates Nana Bour Boutique and Jewelry shop near the Fort Belvoir Military Base. She said the prices of traditional clothes and the famous Kente cloth as well as the native sandals that she imports from Ghana have all gone up considerably due to shipping costs and inflation.
One encouraging trend, which benefits the government of Ghana in tax revenue generation, is the fact that the volume of e-financial transactions (electronic money transfers) has remained almost unchanged. On May 1, 2022, the government of Ghana introduced a 1.5% Electronic Levy (E-LEVY) applicable to mobile money transactions and bank transfers. The fear was that many Ghanaians living abroad may find other means to remit money to Ghana to skirt the new laws but those fears have not materialized. In all the shops visited, there was no indication of money transfer slowing down due to the new taxes. Ghanaian residents in the Washington DC Metro area are actually sending more cash to Ghana to help their families due to the worsening financial and economic situation in the country.
