Santa hats, beards and tinsel: Christmas trade on African streets

Santa hats, beards and tinsel: Christmas trade on African streets
Joseph Muli, a street vendor, wears a plastic Santa Claus mask as he peddles Christmas merchandise to motorists in Ngara district near the Globe cinema roundabout of Nairobi, Kenya December 19, 2018. Picture taken December 19, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya Copyright THOMAS MUKOYA(Reuters)
Copyright THOMAS MUKOYA(Reuters)
By Reuters
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(Reuters) - With Christmas fast approaching, African shoppers are snapping up festive decorations to add some sparkle to the holiday season.

Reuters photographers took the streets of cities across the continent to capture traders and hawkers selling everything from Santa hats and fake beards to colourful tinsel and shiny tree baubles.In Nairobi, Joseph Muli said trees and inflatable Santas were his best-selling items.

In mainly-Muslim Dakar and in Abuja - whose population is split roughly evenly between Christians and Muslims - vendors Pap Modoo and Eko Onyewuchi both said they sold a lot of festive hats.

"Christmas is very important in my country," said Abidjan street vendor Kone Aicha. "People like to celebrate and they buy lot of goods even if the prices are high."

Like others she bought her stock locally - from Chinese merchants.

(Reporting by Luc Gnago, Zohra Bensemra, Thomas Mukoya and Afolabi Sotunde; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; editing by John Stonestreet)

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