Unit 5: Guciririkanya no guhaha (Negotiation and shopping)

The activity of buying and selling goods and various commodities  was one of the essential activities for Rwandans for a number of centuries. In the course of buying and selling commodities, the bargaining power is generally exercised until they get to the point of mutual satisfaction in terms of the exchanged for commodities.

Traditionally, Rwandan market was divided into specialized and non-specialized market. In a specialized market, sellers were identified on the basis of the line of craft skills the family was good at. For example, they were dress makers (abakannyi), basket makers (ababoshyi b’ibitebo n’inkangara), mate makers (ababoshyi b’ibirago), pot makers (ababumbyi b’inkono n’ibibindi), blacksmiths (abacuzi), jewelry makers, etc.

In a non-organized market, people would meet at a public place called “isoko” (market) and exchange goods and commodities for an agreed upon value suitable to their respective needs. The barter system used to be the most convenient to Rwandans. They had different units of measures to facilitate the market transactions that were taking place in the market places on regular basis. For example, the measure for selling grains was “akebo or icyibo”.  

However, in modern market where monetary system prevails, the way the market is conducted  has dramatically changed as it brought into the market more facilities in the process of buying and selling commodities for realistic and fair exchange values. The common factor in both traditional and modern market is that buyers beat the sellers prices down until they get the right prices. There is no such a thing as “fixed price” as far as Rwandan market concept is concerned.