Cameroonian Women Protest High Cost of Living
Thousands of women in Cameroon took to the streets on Wednesday, International Women’s Day, to protest the high cost of living. The government blames soaring food and energy prices on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Hundreds of Cameroonian women blow trumpets and whistles on the streets of the central African state's capital Yaounde, shouting and decrying the high cost of living amid surging inflation.
The women say they want the government to help them cope with price increases.
Suzanne Menanga is coordinator of the Cameroon Female Consumers Union that organized the protest.
She says her group protested on International Women's Day because more than 80% of Cameroon's roughly 14 million women are either unemployed or earn very low wages that make it difficult to cope with the high costs.
She says a February 2023 minimum wage increase for private sector workers from about $60 to $68 and the 5.4% salary increase for government workers has not improved the living conditions of Cameroonians.
Menanga says food price inflation increased from 25% in 2022 to 40% in 2023, adding that it is difficult for families to purchase everyday items like bread, sugar, fish, salt, soap and vegetable oil, whose prices are up by between 18 and 45%. Read More…
