Street trading is an issue that had been in existence for a long time ago. This is very common in our urban areas in Africa. This street trading implies displaying of wares and other items of sales on the road sides for potential buyers to see. By displaying it , the potential buyers are given opportunity to access those commodities with the intention of making them to buy those ones they are interested in. This helps the traders to make high sales and to make quick return on Turnover. It works like magic , buyers too are given opportunity to buy what they want without walking long distance into the interior of the markets.

Information at my disposal reveals that , this type of thing is a common phenomenon in most parts of Africa cities. It is happening as a result of high cost of hiring a shop/store in the urban cities . This high cost of hiring a stall is exceptionally high in the urban centres and has brought untold hardships on many people who have intention of starting a business on a small scale. So many shopping complex are available for people to display what they have in a decent working environment. But this high cost is pushing people away , hence this has gingered many people to look for alternatives in order to keep their hopes alive. The only available alternative , that's cheaper and accessible is to display product of sales on a nearby route for people to see. Many sellers take to this and it's not unusual in every street to see people especially women to be trading on the street.

Apart from high cost of hiring a stall , patronage is another Factor encouraging street trading. Many people from different walks of life prefer to buy what they want without necessarily stressing themselves out and this trader deals in petty things which can easily attract passersby. This no doubt goes along way to pull them to their wares and buy. They make a lot of sales than people who having stalls.

The traders who had made roadside their own permanent store disturb free flow of traffic in and around street. The journey that supposed to take only ten minutes is unusually take three hours because the road is busy with people who have occupied it. It is not unusual to hear sound blaring vehicles to ply the road without hearing them bleating the centre with horns and this makes the urban centres to be unnecessarily be busy and unattractive to ply.

Urban centres in Africa is over populated. Many people leave their rural areas for urban centres with the hope of securing jobs. This is very common among the school leavers especially secondary school Certificate holders. But on getting there they are disappointed and started moving from pillar to post just to be looking for none-existing jobs. Hence end up selling petty things along the road sides.

The local Authority usually send their officers after them at least to send them packing from the road to allow for free flow of traffic , yet , the problem still remain there. These officers instead of facing the job of clearing roads squarely , they collect illegal money from street traders and make the matter worse.

Street trading has become a menace in the urban centres. Some criminal elements hide under street trading to perpetrate crimes.

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