What is Commerce?
Commerce can be defined as the buying and selling of goods and services, including the aids to trade which enable goods and services to reach the final consumer. These aids to trade include banking, transport, communication, advertisement, and warehousing. The objective of commerce is to ensure that goods and services reach the final consumer.
What is Trade?
Trade is that branch of commerce that deals with the buying and selling of goods and services. It is divided into two types.
Home Trade (Internal or Domestic Trade)
This is the buying and selling of goods and services within the same country. It is divided into wholesale and retail trade. The wholesaler buys goods in large quantities from the manufacturer and sells in small quantities to the retailer or, at times, the consumer. The retailer buys goods in small quantities and sells them to consumers in bits.
Foreign Trade (External or International Trade)
This is the buying and selling of goods and services between two or more countries, e.g. Cameroon selling cocoa to France. It is divided into bilateral trade (between two countries) and multilateral trade (among several countries, e.g. trade within the CEMAC countries). Foreign trade involves the import and export of goods and services.
- Import: when goods and services leave other countries to enter Cameroon, e.g. cars, computers, mobile phones.
- Export: when goods and services leave Cameroon for other countries, e.g. banana, yams, white tea, cocoa.
Entrepot Trade
A special type of foreign trade where goods are imported from one country and later exported to another, or the importation of goods for re-exportation. Countries involved are called “collecting and distribution countries”. It is practised when direct trade with a foreign country is difficult, due to shipping difficulties or political problems.
