School reopening boosts informal sector activities

Some actors in the informal sector across Yaounde have revealed that the reopening of schools has accounted for a favourable increase in proceeds from their activities.

The revelation was made by a cross-section of traders, taxi drivers, bookshop owners and snack vendors, to this reporter who sought to know the impact the school-reopening has on their businesses.

Comparing the revenue during the holidays, and that which they have made in a few days into the beginning of the school year, they hold that their sales have increased.

A taxi driver, Neville, says he is now witnessing an increasing rate of income.

“Since the academic year began, I make sure that I am on the road by 6.00 am so that I can transport as many people as possible. Students often pay FCFA 100, and to cover this, I do very short distances so as to maximise profit. So far, it has been favourable. I just want to plead with the police not to be my stumbling block,” he remarked.

The driver said, within the first three hours of work, he makes over FCFA 5,000, unlike the holiday period when he hardly realised the amount required by the proprietor of the taxi. He said the increase in the prices of petroleum products does not pose a major problem to him.

The Manager of Friends Bookshop, Stanley Winkum, disclosed that school reopening has had a positive impact on his business, thanks to parents who bought books early and are still buying.

He added that most of the profit made comes from books which were not sold last year and are in high demand this year. He said they have more advantage over the other book vendors “because most of the books are not found in the open market, so, that is helping us improve our sales.

Eugene Penn, a snack vendor, declared that he generates much income from his sales during this period. He said he realises FCFA 40,000 a day, as opposed to FCFA 25,000 during holidays.