{"id":82783,"date":"2026-04-06T09:58:52","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T09:58:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/market-dynamics-push-retailers-to-defy-pricing-directive"},"modified":"2026-04-06T09:58:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T09:58:52","slug":"market-dynamics-push-retailers-to-defy-pricing-directive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/market-dynamics-push-retailers-to-defy-pricing-directive","title":{"rendered":"Market Dynamics Push Retailers to Defy Pricing Directive"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\">           <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Botswana. <\/strong>         <\/span><b>Local retailers have raised concerns that they may be left with little choice but to increase prices, despite a directive from the Ministry of Trade and Entrepreneurship urging businesses to avoid hiking prices following recent fuel price increases.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Retailers argue that while the government\u2019s intention is to shield consumers from rising costs, the directive does not take into account the realities of supply chain pricing, where they have no control over supplier cost adjustments.<\/p>\n<p>They warn that if wholesalers and suppliers revise their prices upwards due to increased fuel and transport costs, retailers will be forced to follow suit in order to remain financially viable.<\/p>\n<p>VOLATILE ECONOMY<\/p>\n<p>The concerns highlight a growing tension between government efforts to stabilise the cost of living and the commercial pressures facing businesses operating on thin margins in an increasingly volatile economic environment.<\/p>\n<p>Stakeholders say without coordinated interventions across the supply chain, the directive may prove difficult to fully implement on the ground.<\/p>\n<p>NO PRIOR ENGAGEMENT<\/p>\n<p>Ramachandran Ottapathu, the Chief Executive Officer of Choppies, the largest retail chain in Botswana, told The Botswana Gazette that there was no prior engagement between the ministry and retailers before the announcement was made. He noted that although the government\u2019s position is guided by external factors, retailers also have to balance market dynamics that will be affected by the external impacts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was no discussion or consultation. We are traders and we have no control over our cost price. If our suppliers increase our cost price we will be forced to increase the selling price,\u201d Ottapathu told this publication.<\/p>\n<p>Reached for comment, Business Botswana stated that they are currently engaging stakeholders on the matter before communicating an official position on the topic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">           Find more news and analyses on           <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Botswana<\/span>           on the           <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span>           website         <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Botswana. Local retailers have raised concerns that they may be left with little choice but to increase prices, despite a directive from the Ministry of Trade and Entrepreneurship urging businesses to avoid hiking prices following recent fuel price increases. Retailers argue that while the government\u2019s intention is to shield consumers from rising costs, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":82782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[234],"class_list":["post-82783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Market Dynamics Push Retailers to Defy Pricing Directive - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/market-dynamics-push-retailers-to-defy-pricing-directive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Market Dynamics Push Retailers to Defy Pricing Directive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press &#8211; Botswana. Local retailers have raised concerns that they may be left with little choice but to increase prices, despite a directive from the Ministry of Trade and Entrepreneurship urging businesses to avoid hiking prices following recent fuel price increases. 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