| Commodities |    1462 VIEWS  |
| Commodities | |
| 1462 VIEWS | |
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Sunday, July 26, 2020 08:00 AM / FDC/ Header Image Credit: FDC
If you live in Lagos Island, VI or Ikoyi and you are 'traffophobic (fear of traffic)', mind our French. You may be a victim of
traders at Sura market, who are charging a premium of 20% and above for
identical commodities. You are definitely buying plantain, garri and tomatoes
far above the prices prevailing at Iddo and Oyingbo.
Traders are rational economic agents and are also very
smart. They know that price discrimination is a feature of imperfect markets.
They are also aware, that their customers are more likely to be elites, living
in expensive flats in Ikoyi or Victoria Island and more than anything else have 'deep
pockets'. So what do they do? They size you up very quickly and
then proceed to charge you a price based on their assessment.
Price discrimination, as you may know, is not
Nigeria-specific but a universal phenomenon. It is a natural function of higher
logistics costs, demand elasticity, market segmentation and income inequality.
The partial closure of the 3rd Mainland Bridge will further disrupt
the commodity supply chain and widen the price differential between markets.
In the links below, the FDC Think Tank shares its
findings of a joint survey of Lagos markets by Channels TV and FDC on the
factors responsible for price discrimination in the Lagos Metropolis.
Download Here - FDC Economic
Bulletin
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