A study on the business strategies of West African itinerant migrant traders in Accra has called for enterprise-support programmes to help transform informal retailing into more productive, sustainable and equitable businesses.
The study found that despite operating largely outside formal business structures, the traders demonstrated practical entrepreneurial skills in customer acquisition, pricing, product promotion, cash-flow management and choice of trading locations.
It recommended that policymakers recognise and build on those existing capabilities rather than focusing predominantly on regulation, taxation and competition between informal traders and formal businesses.
The findings were contained in a policy brief by Professor Elijah Yendaw, Professor of Population and Migration Studies at the University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (UBIDS), Wa.
The research, which formed part of a broader study, surveyed 779 West African itinerant migrant traders across nine neighbourhoods in the Accra Metropolis.
Customer Networks Drive Sales
The study found that customer networks were an important business asset, with about 61 percent of respondents indicating that they had built networks of regular customers.
About 38 percent said they retained customers through lower prices, while other strategies included offering quality products, maintaining good relations with customers, providing credit and ensuring timely supply.
The findings also showed that 62.4 percent of the traders did not operate with fixed prices, reflecting their flexibility in adjusting prices to prevailing market conditions and individual circumstances.
The study, however, noted that credit sales presented challenges because of the risk of payment defaults and difficulties in recovering debts in a mobile urban trading environment.
Street Vending And Product Promotion
The research found that 50.8 percent of respondents relied on street vending to sell their products, allowing them to move to locations where they could reach more potential customers.
The policy brief urged authorities to distinguish between the need to manage congestion and the economic value of mobile retailing, which enables traders to take goods directly to consumers.
Product promotion was also an important part of the traders’ business strategies.
About 74 percent of respondents said they advertised their products by loudly calling out their names, while others highlighted information about prices, quality and durability.
The study said those communication skills could be strengthened through basic training in branding, signage, mobile-phone marketing and truthful advertising.
It also identified persuasion and price reductions as leading techniques used by traders to increase sales.
The brief recommended that these practices be developed into ethical selling, negotiation and customer-service skills.
Six Policy Actions Proposed
The study proposed six key policy actions, including designing microenterprise training around traders’ existing business skills and promoting transparent and sustainable pricing practices.
It also recommended the adoption of simple digital payment systems and transaction records to improve financial management and business accountability.
Other recommendations included creating designated arrangements for mobile trading in appropriate high-footfall areas, promoting ethical sales practices and engaging migrant and trader associations as partners in enterprise-support programmes.
The policy brief said entrepreneurship programmes should initially focus on practical skills such as customer acquisition, repeat sales, negotiation and market observation.
These, it said, could subsequently be complemented with structured training in costing, bookkeeping, stock management, savings and business reinvestment.
“Informal does not mean unskilled. The challenge is to turn street-smart retailing into stronger, fairer and more sustainable enterprises,” the policy brief stated.
