Mogadishu Consumers Struggle as Food and Fuel Costs Spike

Mogadishu (PP News Desk) — As the holy month of Ramadan draws closer, the prices of food and Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) have sharply increased.

In one week, the price of a 13kg LPG cylinder  has jumped from $15 to $32, an increase of over 113%. Consumers are concerned that prices might rise further.

There is a strong perception that the sudden price increase resulted from hoarding by retailers, who have stockpiled LPG to sell at higher prices ahead of Ramadan. The increasing consumer reliance on LPG has given suppliers an opportunity to exploit the situation through unwarranted price hikes.

The prices of staple food items, particularly those commonly consumed during Ramadan, have also risen significantly.

Consumers, already grappling with rising unemployment and market closures caused by  the heavy taxes levied by the Federal Government of Somalia on businesses, are now worried about what they see as unethical business practices where the holy month of Ramadan “is associated with intentional price hikes on essential commodities”.

More than five companies sell LPG in Mogadishu, yet all of them have raised the price of the cooking fuel that over 90% of Mogadishu residents rely on. A marketing lecturer in Mogadishu told Puntland Post that traders and LPG suppliers take advantage of consumer buying habits one to two weeks before Ramadan begins.

Consumers buy large quantities of goods for Ramadan. They rush to the markets, causing certain items to fly off the shelves, a trend that traders and suppliers interpret as higher demand, which they then exploit by creating artificial scarcity. 

© Puntland Post, 2025