Booming business of Nigerian bread in Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast has been producing for several decades now a type of bread originally from Nigeria which has been a source of income for many young Ivorians.

Locally referred to as Nigerian bread or sweet bread, it is manufactured using Nigerian know-how and is a delicacy for many in the country.

The required ingredients for making the bread are flour, sugar, salt, milk and butter, and it costs between 100 to 250 CFA francs.

“I eat this bread in the morning, at noon and I often take it home. It’s sweet and very good especially when it is accompanied by “alloco”. It’s very s oft and the fact that its Nigerian pleases me very much,» said one student.

The procedure for manufacturing the bread is done in several stages. Kneading dough from the flour, cutting the dough into portions that will be transformed into different or standard forms. And then it’s baked for 40 minutes.

“I used to make this bread in Nigeria since 1993. And in 2009, I established myself here. It wasn’t easy at first. But the quality and seriousness in the work made people to adapt and to start loving this bread. I can make up to 100,000, 150,000 or even 200,000 CFA francs in a day,” said Adeyemi Sikourou, a bakery supervisor in the country.

“It’s now one year since I started selling this bread. I can sell up to 80 loaves of bread at 250 CFA francs and I sell everything. It feeds my family.I have a child in the village so I use this money to pay for his school fees, my clothes and even the house,” said a seller of the bread.

Ivory Coast has several thousands of Nigerian nationals and this bread is without a doubt among the symbols that promote integration between the two countries.