On Monday, October 6 2025, Consumer Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation (CADEF) participated in the Consumers International Members Connect session titled “Smart Solutions to Tackle Rising Costs”, a timely global dialogue addressing the growing pressure of rising prices on consumers worldwide.

Participants shared experiences from different regions, highlighting how increases in food prices, insurance premiums, and basic services are stretching household budgets and pushing many families into difficult choices. For many consumers, these rising costs mean having to choose between essentials such as food, healthcare, and education.

During the session, global data helped put these experiences into context. Food prices, for example, have continued to rise year on year, driven by factors such as supply disruptions, climate impacts, and trade pressures. At the same time, insurance costs are increasing, partly due to climate-related risks, making it harder for people to afford protection when they need it most.

Our Executive Director, Professor Chiso Ndukwe-Okafor, served as a speaker during the session, contributing insights from the Nigerian and African consumer context. She called for consumer-centred policies that prioritize affordability, transparency, and fairness, stressing that markets and policies must work for people, not against them. According to her, protecting consumers from rising costs is not only an economic issue, but also a matter of dignity and access to basic needs.

She also highlighted our work on Fair Food Prices in Nigeria, including a major campaign carried out in 2023 in partnership with Consumers International. Through this initiative, we investigated the drivers of food inflation, examined supply chain bottlenecks, and raised concerns about monopolies, middlemen practices, excessive taxation, and lack of transparency that continue to push food prices beyond the reach of many Nigerians.

We are proud to contribute to these global conversations and remain committed to advancing consumer rights, affordability, and financial inclusion in Nigeria and beyond, ensuring that consumer voices remain central as markets, policies, and prices continue to evolve.

Explore our work on affordability, inclusion, and consumer protection.