Markets

Traditional African economy was predominantly natural: a large family providesd itself with almost everything necessary. Nevertheless, markets appeared a long time ago and have always played an important role in the life of African people. A market is not only a place where one can buy or exchange goods. People go to the market to see friends, to show off in front of their fellow-villagers in new clothes and adornments, to exchange news. Young people come here to flirt, and young men compete in strength.

A market is an event that people anxiously wait for during the whole week. That is why, in many African languages the word “week” is derived from the word for “market”, and the week does not necessarily consist of seven days: it can have five days, or eight, depending on the number of villages united into a market cycle. On each day of the week the market takes place in one of the villages, and when the round is over, the week is over too. Villages of a market cycle form a natural association and act together in the case of an exterior threat or in other respects.

A market in a city is a different thing. It is open every day, and professionals work here for whom their market stall is not a break away from their everyday life, but a routine.

A road-side market at the exit from the Guinean capital.  Guinea, Konakri. V. F. Vydrin. 1996.