The Impact of Covid-19 on Petty Traders in Bo City Markets, Southern Sierra Leone

Abstract

The study primarily intended to assess the impact of Covid-19 on petty trading businesses in Bo City Central Markets in the Southern Sierra Leone. The specific objectives of the study were: i) to analyze the turnover/sales volume of Covid-19 outbreak ii) to analyze the implications of Covid-19 on petty traders in Bo central markets iii) to identify the factors influencing petty traders in Bo City Markets iii) to assess the impact of Covid-19 recovery package in Bo City Central Markets. The methods of data collection include; questionnaire administration and interview guide with the target population of (250) petty traders that represents a sample size of (200) businesses/respondents selected from 10 (ten) central markets in Bo City using stratified random sampling technique. The study adopted a descriptive and mixed method design, and the results/findings discussed in qualitative and quantitative methods. The results converted using, SPSS, tables, frequencies, and percentages. The key findings include: (95%) of petty trading businesses are registered, (95%) complied with Covid-19 control measures, (23%) turnover/sales volume low, (46.5%) average sales/turnover, (4.5%) turnover not reasonable, while (90.5%) of the businesses have been negatively impacted in Bo City Central Markets. Conclusively, the curtailment strategies of Covid-19 have led to the negative impact of the virus on the reduction of sales volume turnover with the adverse effect on profitability, liquidity and equity position of the petty trading businesses. It is also recommended that the Central Government, and other partners should ensure that the Covid-19 recovery package being monitored and equitably distributed, reduction of taxes, ease of restrictions, micro-finance scheme to aid businesses in Bo City Central Markets. Keywords: Petty Traders, Covid-19 Pandemic, Business, Markets, Bo City DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/13-8-03 Publication date: April 30 th 2022