On the third day of the 17th edition of the Ouagadougou International Crafts Fair (SIAO), joy is hard to see on the faces of sellers of grills, skewers and other products, as well as beverage managers. However, all hope to do well before the end of the crafts biennial.
“For the moment, the market is timid, but I think that before the SIAO closes, I will at least have enough to cover the cost of renting the stand and make a profit,” confided Mariam Ouédraogo, seller of skewers, merguez and sausages.
According to her, the rental of her stand costs 200,000 FCFA, an amount that this restaurateur, present for the first time at SIAO, finds a little high.
A few meters away, Abdallah Zagré offers grilled chicken. ‘Come and see my chickens, sir, they cost 4,500, 5,000 and 6,000 CFA francs,’ he suggested.
As with the previous merchant, the observation is similar.
“The market is gloomy, and on top of that, we are asked to close at 11pm on weekends and 10pm on normal days. That doesn’t suit us. We would have prefer
red to be able to stay until 2am,” said young Abdallah, who still hopes to do good business.
Further on, the bar managers seem more satisfied, probably because of the weekend. “The market is good today,” says the cashier at the Affissa maquis.
“The other days, it’s a bit dead,” he added, wondering if the 100 CFA franc increase in the price of drinks was not the cause.
When we left the SIAO site, the general observation was that the drinks stands were always full.
Source: Burkina Information Agency