With a drop in inflation and Christmas barely a week away, traders in the central business district (CBD) of Accra say their expectation of a business boom is yet to materialize.
They attributed the slowness of business to the decongestion carried out by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) which had reduced human traffic in the CBD, as well as the high prices of goods and services.
A visit by the Daily Graphic to the CBD yesterday revealed that vehicular and human traffic in the area was low, compared to the situation on previous occasions.
Although large quantities of goods were on display in shops, containers and kiosks and on tables, business was not that brisk, as traders complained of low patronage.
Most of the traders blamed the problem on the high prices of goods, most of which were imported, and claimed that trading activities during Christmas in 2008 were better, although it had been an election year.
They therefore, called on the government to institute measures that would stabilize the prices of goods and services.
A trader who gave her name as Auntie Adwoa said between November and December last year, she sold cloth amounting to GH�1,000 every day. She said the situation was not the same this year, as she sold cloth amounting to a little over GH�60 a day, adding, �Today, for instance, I have sold cloth worth GH�50.� She said a lace material that sold for GH�1.50 per yard last year was now selling for GH�2.
�A Hitarget material that was selling for GH16 last year is selling for GH�20 this year,� she added. A confectionery dealer, Mrs. Rita Osei, said many people normally patronized her items around this time of the year. However, she said, the situation was different this year, explaining that people complained of the prices of �our items when we quote them�.
Mrs Osei said although the prices of some of her items had dropped from GH�10 to GH�7, the items were still not being patronized. �I sell biscuits, toffees and other items but they are not being bought. Around this time you expect such items to receive high patronage,� she said.
A cooking oil and rice dealer, Charity Coffie, also said people complained of the prices being too high. She said, for instance, that while a gallon of oil sold for GH�35 in December last year, It was going for GH�45 this year. �When you quote such a price, people say it is too high. In fact, most of them tell you they do not have money,� she emphasized. Asked whether it was not the attitude of traders to say that business in a previous year had been better than the current year, she replied in the negative and expressed the hope that business would pick up next week.
Mr Kofi Boakye, a dealer in artificial hair, said before the second round of elections last year, �people bought our products, but the situation is not the same this year�. He said the situation was so bad that he sold hair extension amounting to only GH�15 last Friday, saying that on Monday too he sold products amounting to only GH�18.
Normally, he said, he sold hair extension amounting to more than GH�200 a day. Sister Gifty, a second-hand clothes dealer, said a bale of used clothing had gone up by GH�50, explaining that �a bale of used clothing I bought for GH�450 last week has shot up to GH�500 this week�.
She said a two-year-old child�s shorts that was sold for GH�1.50 last week was now selling for GH�2. The traders attributed the increase in the prices of goods to the cedi-dollar exchange rate and called on the government to put in place measures that could stabilize the cedi against the dollar.
<<Print>>