With Ghana’s 2024 general election fast approaching, workers at the Asafo Market in the Subin Constituency of the Ashanti Region have voiced concerns over the rising cost of living and its adverse effects on their businesses.
Despite expectations that prices would stabilise or decrease in the lead-up to the election, local traders and workers say the economic situation has worsened, dampening their hopes for relief.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Community Forum, Ernest Amoah, a coconut seller at the Asafo Market, lamented how the high cost of goods has significantly impacted his business.
“Things are really difficult these days. People wish to buy the coconut, but they turn away when I mention the process to them. The price of coconut was being sold at GH¢4 cedis but now we have to sell it at GH¢8.00 and it is preventing people from buying. As a result, it is now difficult to sell at least 50 or 100 pieces a day,” he stated.
For Seth Owusu, a printing press operator, the issue extends beyond rising costs to include the instability of the country’s power supply.
He explained that frequent power outages are crippling businesses like his, which heavily depend on electricity.
“This government has really slowed down the business in terms of light. We can come to work early in the morning to earn a living. By the time you get to the shop, there will be no light to work with, and this business is dependent on light to survive.
“One of our machines, worth 500 million, has been damaged by the unstable nature of the power of supply. Instead of offering us contracts to handle, the government tends to offer those constructs to people in China, and that is causing us a lot of loss and slowing down our business,” he stated.
Melody Opoku, a trader in the market, also expressed frustration with the continuous rise in the cost of goods.
She attributed the trend to fluctuations in the exchange rate, which she said is making imported goods unaffordable and driving customers away.
“Things are very tough nowadays. The prices of things are being increased day in and day out, in the market. Some of them claim the prices of this go up because of the exchange rate. As people continue to import, they tend to increase the prices of imported goods, and that is affecting our business because people are not marketing frequently with us. We thought the prices of goods would decrease looking at the days left for election but sadly it has increased”.
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