Wednesday, September 19, 2007

[Guinean news] Cost of living protest in Conakry

Both the BBC World Service's Focus on Africa program and Guinéenews report that protests erupted today against high cost of living.

Around 8:00 this morning, young protesters marched through the streets of the Conakry neighborhood of Ratoma complaining about the ever increasing cost of basic goods. A few cars were reported damaged.

One young housewife protesting noted that a 50 kilo bag of rice now costs 160,000 Guinean francs (FG), or over US$39. The price has increased 60 percent since the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, she said.

"From one day to the next, they increase the price by 10,000 FG," she added.

No comments: