Table Of Contents
- History Of Commerce In Nigeria
- Factors That Affect The Growth Of Commerce In Nigeria
- Factors That Encourages The Growth Of Commerce
History Of Commerce
In the olden days, people engaged in subsistence production. This means they were producing goods for themselves and their families. Later they started interacting with one another because it was difficult for them to meet all their daily requirement.
The system of exchanging goods for goods called trade by barter then came into existence. This became apparent in order to meet their numerous wants. This is the genesis of exchange and perhaps the beginning of commerce activities in the world. Trading activities were however, limited to internal.
The first form of foreign trade in Nigeria was the trans-sahara trade in which camels were used as means of transportation.
The development of craven routes across the desert link to Nigeria with North African traders. The Arab merchants brought goods like salt, cowries, coppery, cloth and books which were exchanged for kolanut, slaves, gold hide etc. Important towns like kano, borno, zaria, kastina, played crucial role during that period.
Factors That Affect The Growth Of Commerce In Nigeria And West Africa
1. Insufficient Capital: African countries lack sufficient capital to cope with the expanding nature of business activities, The level of capital formation is low.
2. Political Instability: Constant change of government and war have hindered investment in West Africa.
3. Low Saving: The culture of saving is very low in West Africa as a whole hence there is no money for commercial transactions.
4. Poor Transportation And Communication System: The region has very poor road network as well as poor communication system. Most of the people have no access to telephone or internet.
5. Absence Of Well Developed Market: In West Africa are not well developed to accommodate large scale commercial activities.
Factors That Encourages The Growth Of Commerce
1. Emergence Of Specialization: Specialization has brought about interdependence. People now depend on one another while the produce what they have comparative advantage in and this has led to market production.
2. Population Growth: Increase in population has also increased commercial activities. Also changes in consumption pattern have also facilitated growth of commerce.
3. Role Of Advertising: Advertising has impact facilitated commerce. Aggressive advertising has helped to create great awareness for many unknown goods. This helps to create and maintain demand for such production.
4. Development Of Insurance: The development of insurance which helped to reduce or spread risk involved in trade has also helped to promote growth of commercial activities.
5. Development Of Means Of Communication: The development of modern telecommunictaion system has eared and hastened contacts among people of different countries.
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