Akara for #22,000?
Would you also be buying it?
Nigerians recently gathered online in collective confusion after someone tweeted about his Akara business, selling for ₦22,000 for 7 pieces.
Could this be that akara has left the streets and entered the stock market?
There are very few things Nigerians hold sacred, and one of them is Akara from a woman who wakes up before sunrise, sets up a little frying station by the roadside, and sells you pieces of Akara in paper and nylon for a price that feels more like a donation than a transaction.
You can already imagine the shock when someone announced they were selling seven pieces of akara for ₦22,000.
While people debated how ridiculous the price was, some said it was worth purchasing.
So…maybe the people complaining are just not the target audience?
Let’s view this from another lens: The ₦22,000 akara is really not about bean cakes, it is about what people are willing to pay when you sell them an experience instead of ‘just’ a snack. Somewhere between rising food prices and aesthetic packaging, akara seems to have undergone a complete rebrand. What we generally know as a quick roadside breakfast is now becoming a curated experience. Would you also call this creativity?
This is not new. Over the years, the same thing has happened to puff-puff, doughnuts, coffee etc…and people pay for these things. The premium akara seller is not trying to replace the roadside woman. They are operating in a completely different market, one that runs on aesthetics, gifting culture, and the growing desire among a certain class of Nigerians to spend money on things that feel intentional.
With that said, there are no right or wrong opinions, and we would like to hear your thoughts on this in the comment section.
