Sights of Lagos

Could not resist this shot.

This is one day in the life of the average Lagos market woman, buying bulk produce for retailing. If you look carefully at the truck you can find baskets of tomatoes and tubers of yam ready for the local markets where they reside to sell. These women take care of at least 2 or more children and their households with the income they make from this petty trade.

The average woman in the Lagos metropolis works or does some sort of trade. The commercial viability of the city often helps. Any hardworking person in this city can afford not to go hungry if the person can put together small amounts of capital to start a petty trade either in roasted/boiled groundnuts, roasted plantain, roasted yam, pure water (satchet water on-the-go) and many other food items hawked along the streets of Lagos on daily basis to raise income to keep body and soul together.

In Ghana and certain parts of India, micro financing has helped petty traders to live a life of their dreams. These people usually fall below the radar of lending from banks simply because they are regarded as un-bankable due to size. So discerning social entrepreneurs provide relief by offering at least $100 each to market women/men. Such lending is done on the back of the already existing local contributory credit system called Osusu common among the west African countries.

The women know each other, trust each other and act as surety for one another and repay the loans from their weekly profits. Most times a failed debt becomes the debt of the entire group and this keeps default rate low.

In African culture where the woman is often left in charge of the household, transforming a woman's fortune is akin to sustainable development as it means better education, health care and nutrition for their offsprings and indeed society!