Traders Complain About Low Patronage

By Esther Adjei FRIMPONG

Traders in the Greater Accra Region are bitterly complaining about low patronage of goods and services six months into the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo led New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.

Aunty Shine, a scratch card seller in Achimota, told Business Day in an interview that last year sales were very good and she earned a lot of profits even though there was 'dumsor' but this year things are not really going on well for her in the first six months of the year.

But she is hoping that things go well as the year progresses. She further told Business Day that last year she could make sales of not less than GHC170 a day.

According to her, the highest sale she now makes, six months into the new administration, is GHC80.

Similarly, Ahmed, a boutique operator with three years of experience, lamented that during these three years things were so good even though there was dumsor.

According to him, in that business crippling situation, he could still make his profit till late last year, during the month of elections, when things started turning otherwise.

Business slowed down and this has continued to till date, he narrated to Business Day.

"Though there is no dumsor in the country now, business is not really well," says Ahmed.

In contrast, Madam Akosua, who runs a drinking spot, also disclosed that business has been really bad since last year because of the dumsor, but from the beginning of this year sales started to appreciate.

She then said during last year she could come to work from morning till 7:00PM before few people could come in to buy some drinks.

But in the first six months of the NPP reign, sales have really catapulted, she noted.

Aunty Benedicta, who has been operating a drinks depot for the past ten years, told Business Day that sales trended normally until late last year.

"The only thing that disturbed my business was dumsor, because of that the drinking spot operators were not buying drinks because sales were also not good for them," she explained.

"But now the lighting system is quite stable and business is picking up," she said, expressing hope that profits will go higher than they were last year.

The market, as far as Mr. Asante, an electronic shop operator, is concerned, is "not good at all" even though it was fairly bad for him a year ago.

"Though there is no problem with dumsor now, people just come and ask of prices of the items and never come back to buy with the excuse that there is no money in the system," he revealed.

So to him, business is really bad and he is hoping that conditions will change in these last six months of the year.

A provision shop operator, Aunty Ama, made Business Day aware that business is really bad because of less cash in the hands of people. For now, she says she looks up to God for miracles to survive.

According to her, during last year, she was making a lot of sales almost every day but now sales are just bad. "I only sell few and make a little profit as compared to last year," she pointed out in desperation.

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