By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
As the 11th Abuja International Trade Fair (AITF) organised by Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) is set to be officially declared open on Monday, traders and exhibitors may have crashed prices of major goods and products despite the high inflation rates in the country.
A survey of exhibition stands at the fair shows that the prices of good and products are lower than what are obtainable at major Abuja markets such as Wuse, Utako, Kaura and Garki markets
A visit by a group of journalists revealed that the exhibition which opens just two days ago is already attracting huge patronage as many Nigerians in the federal capital territory seek to take advantage of the low prices.
An exhibitor, Mr. David Ugo who was interviewed by team of journalists at the fair complex , said they decided to crash the prices because many of them understand the low purchasing power among consumers.
“We all know the eonomy is in bad shape and most of us are not focusing on big profits but to dispose our stocks to get the cost price and little profit. That is why you discover that our prices here are so low to attracts buyers”, he said.
Another exhibitor, Salihu Tanko said the clothing and food materials section has very low price range due to decision of most exhibitors to ensure value for money for buyers who patronize the trade fair.
According to him, ” It is the tradition for trade fair prices to be lower than what obtained in normal market. This is one advantage of Trade Fair participation. Dubai international trade fair and others drew huge crowd mainly for this reason”, he noted.
The organiser of the trade represented by the Director General of the ACCI , Mr Victoria Akai said prices are normally low at the annual trade fair because exhibitors adopt several pricing strategies. In reality, real shopping is best done at Trade Fair because of price advantage.
“Records at our annual fair confirm that price advantage. So we normally record high patronage. For this year, it is not different because the economic situation demands consumers to buy smartly”, she said.
