WAEC Commerce 2019 past questions

Checked by the Skolra question team · Last updated 23 October 2026

Ten questions from the 2019 WAEC Commerce paper, with answers and explanations. We hold 46 questions from this paper, and the Skolra app has all of them.

WAEC Commerce 2019 questions and answers

1. 1.Computer manufacturers in an area could form a
   1. A
      Chain store
   2. B
      Holding company
   3. C
      Trade association
      Correct
   4. D
      Cooperative society
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   Answer: C

   Trade association is correct. When businesses that deal in the same line of trade or produce the same kind of product within an area come together, they form a trade association to protect and promote their common interests — things like setting standards, training, negotiating with government on tariffs and taxes, and settling disputes among members. Computer manufacturers in an area are in the same line of production, so forming a trade association is the natural step.

2. 2.One of the factors which determines the choice of transport for goods is the
   1. A
      The nature of the goods to be transported
      Correct
   2. B
      The nationality of the transporter
   3. C
      The religion of the consignee
   4. D
      The marital status of the trader
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   Answer: A

   The nature of the goods to be transported is a genuine, recognised factor in choosing a means of transport in Commerce.

3. 3.The marketing concept emphasizes the need to
   1. A
      rely on aggressive advertising and personal selling to push goods already produced
   2. B
      identify the needs and wants of customers and satisfy them profitably
      Correct
   3. C
      maximize output and cut production costs as low as possible
   4. D
      concentrate on making a technically superior product and trust customers to seek it out
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   Answer: B

   In Commerce, business orientations are grouped into the production concept, the product concept, the selling concept and the marketing concept.

4. 4.Which of the following types of advertising is aimed at taking away existing buyers from their slippers?
   1. A
      Informative advertising
   2. B
      Reminder advertising
   3. C
      Competitive advertising
      Correct
   4. D
      Pioneering advertising
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   Answer: C

   Competitive advertising (also called combative advertising) is the type aimed at taking away existing buyers from their suppliers — that is, winning over customers who already buy a rival firm's product by persuading them to switch brands. It is common once a market has several competing sellers and each tries to win a bigger share from the others.

5. 5.The factor of production that is fixed in nature is
   1. A
      Land
      Correct
   2. B
      Entrepreneur
   3. C
      Labour
   4. D
      Capital
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   Answer: A

   Land is correct. Among the four factors of production (land, labour, capital and entrepreneur), land is described as fixed in nature/supply because its total quantity cannot be increased or decreased by man. No matter how much effort or investment is put in, the total land surface available to a country or to mankind remains the same; it can only be improved or put to a different use, not created or destroyed.

6. 6.A firm which turns timber into wooden office desks belongs to the
   1. A
      assembling industry
   2. B
      synthetic industry
   3. C
      analytical industry
   4. D
      processing industry
      Correct
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   Answer: D

   Correct answer: processing industry.

   Manufacturing industries are grouped by how they change raw materials into finished goods. The processing industry takes a single raw material and carries it through a series of successive stages until it comes out as a finished product. Turning timber into wooden office desks is exactly this: the wood is sawn, shaped, joined and finished in stages until a desk results. Other classic examples are sugarcane processed into sugar and cotton processed into textiles.

7. 7.An instruction to a bank regular payment to a third party on behalf of a customer is
   1. A
      Bank draft
   2. B
      Letter of credit
   3. C
      Direct debit
   4. D
      Standing order
      Correct
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   Answer: D

   A standing order is a written instruction a customer gives to their bank to pay a fixed sum of money to a named third party at regular intervals (e.g. weekly, monthly) from the customer's account, until the customer cancels it. Because the customer's own bank initiates and controls the payment on the customer's behalf, this matches the question exactly.

   The tempting wrong answers mix up similar banking instruments:

   Direct debit is almost the reverse: it is the third party (the payee, such as an electricity company) that is authorised to collect payments from the customer's account, and the amount can vary each time — the instruction is initiated by the receiver, not fixed by the customer's bank.

8. 8.A means of payment through the post office is
   1. A
      Credit transfer
   2. B
      Bank draft
   3. C
      Postal order
      Correct
   4. D
      Cheque
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   Answer: C

   Postal order is correct. A postal order is a certificate of a fixed or stated amount that a person buys over the counter at a post office and sends by post to a payee, who then cashes or pays it in at any post office. Because the whole transaction (purchase, transmission and payment) happens through the post office, it is the payment instrument that is actually described as a "means of payment through the post office".

9. 9.The combination of business activities of Abbas Ltd and DenkoLtd to form one large company is
   1. A
      A cartel
   2. B
      A consortium
   3. C
      An amalgamation
      Correct
   4. D
      An acquisition
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   Answer: C

   Amalgamation is correct. When Abbas Ltd and DenkoLtd combine so that the two original companies disappear and a completely new, larger company takes over their assets, liabilities and business, that process is called amalgamation. The key sign in the question is the phrase "to form one large company" — amalgamation is defined precisely as two or more firms pooling together to create one brand-new, bigger company.

10. 10.A group of companies formed to carry out an activity that is beyond the ability of any individual company is
    1. A
       Cartel
    2. B
       Consortium
       Correct
    3. C
       Holding company
    4. D
       Merger
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    Answer: B

    A consortium is a group of two or more independent companies that come together, usually temporarily, to pool their capital, skills and resources in order to carry out a large project that would be too big, too costly or too risky for any one of them to handle alone — for example, a major pipeline, airport or power project. This matches the stem exactly: companies joining forces because the activity is "beyond the ability of any individual company".

    So the group of companies formed specifically to carry out an activity beyond any single company's ability is a consortium.

The questions come from past JAMB, WAEC and NECO papers. We use software to help write the answer options and explanations, and every answer is checked twice before it goes on the site. How we check

Spotted a wrong answer? Tell us from the app or on the contact page and we check it.

Practise all 46 questions we hold from the 2019 paper, on a timed CBT screen

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