Experiences of young vendors engaged in informal entrepreneurship during COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana

Informal entrepreneurship is witnessing an increasing participation of young adults due to the paucity of formal job opportunities in Ghana. Many young adults complete schools, colleges, and universities and have no jobs to go to. However, a few more adventurous young adults take to street vending and hawking as a source of livelihood. This chapter explores such experiences, including opportunities garnered by young street vendors during the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenges they faced in growing their trades or micro-enterprises, and their coping strategies for cushioning their meso-and micro-enterprises. This was a qualitative case study which purposively sampled and interviewed 12 young vendors operating on the Kaneshie-Mallam highway in Accra. Thematic, narrative, and interpretivist approaches were adopted in presenting the results. Participants switched from the services hitherto provided to clienteles to the sales of face masks and sanitizers to make up for lost revenue, and rendered this service at the peril of their lives due to the tragic nature of the COVID-19 pandemic. They, however, earned only a small profit since clients mostly purchased face masks rather than other products. The small capital of the vendors meant for business during the three weeks lockdown imposed by the Government of Ghana (GoG) was spent; however, the smart young vendors secured products on credit from their wholesalers, which allowed business to continue. The GoG, through policy, should accelerate the formalization of the informal sector, and provide appropriate education, financial, and technical supports to cushion young adults in micro-enterprises to bolster Ghana’s development.