The country has very weak productive capacities marked by a non-existent industrial sector and a very inefficient agricultural sector. In fact, the local market is very little diversified and the Comorians are dependent on imports on almost all the products consumed.

According to the World Bank, In 2017, Comoros exported $74 million and imported $295 million, resulting in a negative trade balance of USD 221 million.

The few companies that control the import sector are not specialized in a particular field, they import food as well as equipment or general goods. The fact that the ports cannot accommodate large vessels and the virtual absence of private logistics service makes it very difficult to intensify the supply if the demand increases. All these factors combine to make food and commodity prices expensive compared to prices in neighbouring countries, and the Comorians to be food insecure and vulnerable.

To reduce the risk of inflation and famine, the state set up its own company in 1982, with the National Office for the Importation and Marketing of Rice (ONICOR) having a monopoly on the import and marketing of “ordinary” rice. Its mission is to control the stock to avoid shortages and order good quality rice that can be marketed at a price set by the state and bearable to consumers. Once imported, ONICOR rice is on the market in most shops at a fixed rate of KMF 400 / kg.

Generic country information can be located from sources which are regularly maintained and reflect current facts and figures. For a general overview of country data related to the service and supply sectors, please consult the following sources:

The Observatory of Economic Complexity – MIT (OEC): https://oec.world/en/profile/country/com/.

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