- Dakar (Senegal) The inflation rate in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) remained stable at the end of September 2019, with a negative performance of 1.2 percent as in the previous month, APA learned Tuesday from the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO). By Massamba Sall According to the apex bank, the maintenance of negative annual variations in the general level of prices is mainly due to the continued decline in food prices in most UEMOA countries. In particular, BCEAO argues, a significant drop in local cereal prices is observed in landlocked countries of the Sahel region, reaching, for maize, 45 percent in Mali, 34 percent in Burkina and 16 percent in Niger and for millet, 37 percent in Mali, 24 percent in Burkina Faso and 21 percent in Niger” it said in a statement. This evolution is in line with the good supply of markets induced by the increase in production of the previous crop season and the expectations of good harvests of the current season. Low-priced sales by government agencies and free distribution by humanitarian structures in some parts of the Sahel also contributed to further downward momentum. In addition, BCEAO reports a decline in the prices of fruits and vegetables in Benin (-26 percent) and Togo (-10 percent), particularly in relation to the drop in demand caused by the difficulties of selling these products, following the closure of the border between Benin and Nigeria.