FCT Residents Expresses Concern Over High Cost Of Gadgets

Nigeria's capital, Abuja residents on Tuesday have expressed concerns over the high cost of gadgets and computer accessories in the country.

Traders and users who spoke in an interview at the popular Computer Village in Wuse, Abuja, on Tuesday projected that as the festive season approached, prices could rise further.

David Egbeda, proprietor of EO Technology Solutions, stated that product prices were strongly related to the dollar rise in the black market, hence significant price hikes were being witnessed.

“Prices of computer gadgets and accessories may not dramatically increase because of the lower foreign exchange rate from the commercial banks.

“It is the scarcity of dollars that may cause a reduction in the supply of imported gadgets and then push higher the prices.”

Egbeda said that products that would surely increase in price are: the Apple iPhone, the latest android phones, and newer laptops.

“The older model laptops may not increase because of increased supply and less demand,” he said.

Gbenga Adetayo, a computer games specialist, said the recent CBN directive of obtaining dollar notes only in commercial banks had caused a price increase of the dollar in the parallel market.

Adetayo, who described the price increase as normal, said “every trader equates their goods to the dollar; the higher the dollar, the harder it is for traders to restock or even sell off what they have left.’’

Peter Olaniyi, a software engineer, advised that as a country, the faster we learnt to assemble or produce gadgets and their parts in our country the better.

Olaniyi said that dealers would wish to increase the price of whatever goods they had left due to the dollar increase.

“If the government or private sector is able to invest in gadgets production or assemblage, the better our chances of strengthening our local currency for future generation and reducing dependency on foreign goods,’’ he said.

Olayinka Ogun, CEO of Absolute Tech, said most of the products he was selling were imported from U.S. and Europe.

“So, this strongly impacts on the prices of computer gadgets.

“This strong dependency on importation and foreign exchange has made prices shoot up and this needs to be factored into the final price of the products sold,” he said.

Victor Ojo, a Customer, expressed ill feeling on the impact of the price increase of gadgets saying prices of everything seemed to be increasing and did not exclude computer gadgets.

“As a content creator, I make use of computer gadgets such as phone stand, ring light, air pods, etc.

“Hence, this increase in prices will significantly drive up to my cost and reduce my earning power,” he said.

Sherifat Omole, a tertiary education student, said she felt sorry for consumers of imported goods due to the rising costs of importation.

She added that looking forward to the festive period traders would reflexively increase prices of even used gadgets and computer accessories.

Another customer, Chika Okonkwo, also said that all the vendors of computer gadgets were having the same challenges.

Okonkwo said that since all the gadgets were basically imported he was not surprised that the prices of computer gadgets went up.

He also accused some fast dealers of capitalising on the high exchange rate situation to charge higher prices for their wares in spite of servicing customers from their old stock.