File photo: A trader selling paraphernalia

In the season of the 2019 African Cup of Nations tournament, sports souvenirs were expected to be on high demand in the market.

Shortage of Black Stars paraphernalia was also expected because of the hype prior to the tournament.

It was for these reasons why some traders took loans to invest in Black Stars paraphernalia in the hope of making profit.

However, that did not happen as the Stars failed to make it even to the quarter-finals of the competition.

In an interview with some traders at the Osu Oxford street, which is a popular hub for Ghanaian artefacts, they said they made very low sales before and during the tournament, a situation they could not understand.

“We were made to believe the low sales was because Ghanaians no longer had faith in the performance of the Black Stars, as a result, they were not interested in anything Ghanaian.”

Others said “it could also be that a certain percentage of the Ghanaian population were not even aware of the tournament, prior to the tournament.”

Nana Appiah, a trader at Osu, told Adomonline that “on the day Ghana played against Benin, not even a single soul came to my shop to ask for a price of the Ghanaian jersey and I think it’s because most Ghanaians don’t support their own but rather support other countries.”

Most of the traders said they’ve lost revenue because the paraphernalia invested had become a burden on them.

They said money lenders who gave them loans are on their necks for their money.

Source: Adomonline | Gertrude Otchere