Abakaliki Rice brands Business Booms Despite Harsh Economic Conditions

Economics setbacks and fuel scarcity could not affect sales and production of rice at the local rice mill in Abakaliki, demand soars high while outputs meets steady demands

Though purchases for the Easter celebrations were rela­tively low, sales of the locally processed Abakaliki rice brands in­creased over the weekend.

The prices of the various brands, especially Max (long grains) in­creased from N2,500 to between N3,500 to N3,700 for a 10kg bag.

The sales reached its peak yes­terday with local buyers compet­ing with buyers who thronged the Abakaliki Rice Mills from neigh­bouring states and countries.

Investigation by Biafra Today on Sunday revealed that the rice millers could not meet demands of the buyers due to the sudden orders placed by some state governments within the South-East to serve as Easter gifts. Chairman of the Abakaliki Rice Millers Association, Deacon Joseph Nunu, explained that most of the milling machines in the cluster had become old, so could no longer function at opti­mal capacity. He said that such high sales had not been experienced in the recent past because access roads to the mills were cut off by erosion.

Nunu said that with the recon­struction of the access roads and installation of street lights along the roads along Ogoja Road where the mills are located it had become easy for customers to return to the market.