Eskom tariff hikes: Why South Africans should have their say on future power prices

newsdepo.com · 2026-09-15 14:01 economy

South Africans have until September 27 to comment on proposed changes to electricity pricing policy, amid growing concern over Eskom’s rising tariffs and the cost of power.

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Inflation eases to 15.39% as food prices slow — NBS Sami Tunji, Abuja Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased marginally to 15.39 per cent in August 2026, as the pace of increase in food prices slowed significantly during the month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The NBS disclosed this in its Consumer Price Index report for August 2026 released on Monday. The latest figure represents a 0.04 percentage-point decline from the 15.43 per cent recorded in July and a substantial moderation from 23.14 per cent in August 2025. The report read, “In August 2026, the headline inflation rate stood at 15.39 per cent, down from 15.43 per cent in July 2026 and stood at 23.14 per cent in the same month of the preceding year (August 2025).” Despite the moderation in the annual rate, the Consumer Price Index, which measures changes in the prices of goods and services consumed by households, increased to 146.3 points in August from 145.3 points in July. On a month-on-month basis, inflation slowed considerably to 0.71 per cent in August from 1.57 per cent in July, indicating that consumer prices continued to rise but at a slower pace. The bureau explained, “This means that in August 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in July 2026.” Food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the largest contributor to annual inflation, accounting for 6.16 percentage points. Restaurants and accommodation services contributed 1.99 percentage points, followed by transport at 1.64 points and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 1.30 points. Food inflation stood at 19.57 per cent year-on-year in August, compared with 25.30 per cent in the corresponding period of 2025. More significantly, food inflation slowed sharply on a monthly basis to 1.02 per cent from 5.56 per cent in July. “This shows that the average prices of food items are increasing at a decreasing rate in August 2026,’ the report read. The NBS attributed the moderation mainly to changes in the average prices of palm oil, carrots, pepper, onions, cassava flour, beef, yam flour, water yam, melon, fresh ginger, fresh fish, Irish potatoes, wheat grain, frozen chicken and turkey meat, among others. Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, also moderated to 13.29 per cent year-on-year from 22.93 per cent in August 2025. On a monthly basis, core inflation turned negative at -0.06 per cent, compared with 0.15 per cent in July. However, inflationary pressures varied considerably across the country. Urban inflation stood at 15.88 per cent year-on-year, while rural inflation was lower at 14.23 per cent. Rural prices, however, rose faster during the month, with month-on-month inflation climbing to 1.79 per cent from 0.78 per cent in July, while urban monthly inflation slowed to 0.28 per cent from 1.90 per cent. At the state level, Lagos recorded the highest headline inflation rate at 23.68 per cent, followed by Zamfara at 22.56 per cent and Enugu at 22.06 per cent. Sokoto recorded the lowest at 2.11 per cent. Food inflation was highest in Adamawa at 38.85 per cent, followed by Zamfara at 37.96 per cent and Bayelsa at 36.20 per cent. The NBS, however, cautioned that differences in consumption patterns and CPI weights make direct interstate comparisons potentially misleading.
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