Habit Die Hard:  Nigerians Speak as Beer Prices Climb to Rooftop

Ogbodo Ozioma

Dozens of Nigerians have been reacting differently to the increase in beer prices by the Nigerian Breweries recently. The management of the NB in justifying the price increase said company was faced with a significant decline in market sales.

Hans Essaadi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nigerian Breweries plc said the economic situation in Nigeria has crippled many Nigerians to an extent that they can no longer afford to buy beer. He affirmed in an investors’ meeting,

Hear the CEO, Essaadi, “It has been an unprecedented year for our business in Nigeria. We saw a significant decline in the mainstream lager market as a result of Nigerian consumers no longer able to afford a Goldberg after a hard day’s work,”

There is no recent statistic on beer consumption in Nigeria but according to a report conducted by Tetra Pak West, the share of beer drink in the overall liquid consumption in Nigeria is 12% as of 2017.  This explains the average beer consumption in the total liquid market is 10 percent showing that more beer is consumed in Nigeria.

Mr Isaac, a real estate business owner and a resident in Abuja emphasized that even if beer is sold at N2000, he will drink beer, adding that beer is not the main problem in Nigeria.

“I cannot cut on in take of beer because it’s inflated and even if the beer keep inflating, I will still take beer. My brand is Heineken and it’s sold at N1500, I still take it and take it regularly because it keeps my sanity together in this insane country” he said.

Mr Ojochenemi, a business owner disagrees with Isaac saying his sudden halt in the intake of beer is due to the fact that he has other pressing needs and cannot continue to be wasting his lean resources

“I cannot afford to buy beer as I used to because I have family bills that of great importance piling up for me so beer is the least thing on my mind, I take palm wine instead,” he said.

Mr Monday, a restaurant owner at Apo Village in an interview with Africa Health Report (AHR) said despite the inflation of alcoholic drinks, people still drink beer in quantum and he still buys in large quantities and sells according to the inflated price though some days they are low sales of beer when it’s the peak time like weekends, we sell beer.