Before the beginning of 2019-2020 school year, people deplore the increasing prices of school materials in Burundi economic capital city.
A stand of school materials at Palais des Arts in Bujumbura city
On August 26th, At Palais des Arts in Bujumbura city center, many people sit near their school materials stands. They are waiting for clients. However, there is a little movement of people buying those materials. People say prices have gone up.
“Prices are so exorbitant,” says a father of three children all studying at secondary school adding that he cannot buy school materials at such prices.
“If they are high in Bujumbura city, we cannot afford them in the countryside,” he says.
“We hope prices are going to fall; otherwise, it will be difficult to send our children to school this year,” he adds.
The manager of the stands at Palais des Arts says prices of school materials have highly increased at the market. “A copybook that we used to sell at BIF1, 000 last year is now sold at BIF1, 400,” he adds.
For him, there are various reasons behind the increasing prices of school materials.
“Our supplier, PACOBU, has increased the prices due to the lack of papers,” he says adding that the rise of foreign currencies may be another reason.
“Now we don’t have clients but they shall come sooner or later,” says one vendor at Palais des Arts adding that prices are likely not to fall.
They must buy school materials for their children despite the high prices, he adds.
“When clients come and hear about prices, many of them are surprised and go back without buying,” says Merveilleuse Nzosaba, a vendor of school materials near the former central market in Bujumbura city adding that customers are very few.
Ms. Nzosaba calls on the government to intervene so prices can go down.
Prices of school materials have increased while the 2019-2020 school year is expected to start in early September.
IWACU Open Data
