Swimming Against the Tide: Young Informal Traders’ Survival Strategies in a Competitive Business Environment in Zimbabwe

Informal trading in the town of Bindura, Zimbabwe is a competitive venture just like in other parts of the world. The competitiveness is characterized by young traders aged 18 to 24 years being elbowed out by those established in the business, hence, the study sought to interrogate the experiences of young informal traders. Employing a qualitative research framework with an interpretive philosophical dimension, the study established that young informal traders deploy their agency to survive in such a harsh environment. Their survival is depended on developing multiple streams of income, professionalizing their trade, setting up some associations, and establishing close-knit social networks that enables them to remain in business and eke a living. The study recommends that there is a need for forging up cooperative mechanisms of working in harmony amongst all informal traders since the Bindura market is ever-growing and may accommodate them all.

The Shadow Pandemic: Examining the Impact of COVID-19 on Zimbabwean Informal Sector in Chiredzi District

COVID-19 has disrupted the business sector globally, ushering developed and developing economies into an unprecedented recession beyond anything experienced in nearly a century. Governments across the globe have adopted a myriad of preventive measures. These remedial actions vary from one country to the other. Nonetheless, in Zimbabwe the government gave a blind eye on the informal sector as evidenced by the adopted preventive measures which neglected the plight of informal traders. To this end, this research interrogates the shadow pandemic in the Zimbabwean informal sector using Chiredzi District as an illustrative case study. Documentary review and key informed interviews were at the core of research methodology. The study found out that informal economy businesses are excluded from government grants, closure of businesses, failure to pay rentals, disruption of the supply chain, psychological impact and family dysfunctional are the quandaries causing a shadow pandemic. Inclusion of informal economy businesses in policies and government grants, government should negotiate with landlords, informal traders should be allowed to operate and inclusive social nets are the possible remedial actions that the government can adopted.

The Challenges Faced by Young Entrepreneurs in Informal Trading in Bindura, Zimbabwe

The objective of the study was to capture the challenges that are faced by young informal traders in Bindura town, Zimbabwe. The study was motivated by the lack of attention to the challenges faced by young informal traders by the governing authorities at local and national level. We believe our study extends the understanding of the challenges faced by young informal traders, drawing on their everyday experiences and the navigation of the complex challenges they face. Deploying a qualitative research approach with in-depth interviews, focus group discussion and documentary analysis as data generation tools, the study found that young informal traders face several challenges that include lack of capital and harassment from municipal authorities as well as lack of mentoring and competition from established traders. Thus, the study established and concluded that within this difficult environment, young entrepreneurs employ different survival strategies such as raising capital from friends and relatives, relying on multifarious mentoring and coaching programmes from various sources. The paper recommends that government and private sector take up responsibility in nurturing these young entrepreneurs.

Economic empowerment of women in the informal African craft industry: The case of Tembisa

Orientation: In Tembisa, within the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, women sell woven baskets and traditional beaded accessories, trading informally. The baskets have both functional and aesthetic values, as they are used for interior decoration. The skill of weaving is passed on from generation to generation.Research purpose: To investigate the business model used, the skills needed and the opportunities and support measures available to these craft traders to empower them to transition from being informal traders to becoming formal craft traders.Motivation for the study: Little is known about the women who sell crafts informally in Tembisa. The literature has revealed that the majority of informal traders in South Africa are women from poor communities. It is not known whether opportunities, support measures and sources of funding are available in the local municipality and community to assist these craft traders in transitioning from the informal to the formal sector.Research approach/design and method: A mixed-methods research approach was adopted. A quantitative survey using a structured questionnaire enabled data collection from 32 traders. Through in-depth interviews, information on current programmes by the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality and the Moses Molelekwa Centre were obtained.Main findings: This research revealed that the African craft business is seasonal, depending on the supply of weaving material and cultural and other functions. Most of the traders were not South African and were not interested in transitioning from the informal to the formal sector. Both the municipality and the centre offered programmes to assist informal traders to transition from the informal to the formal sector.Practical/managerial implications: Only a few of the respondents were South African. It is essential to ensure that the skill of weaving continues and be elevated to lucrative business. Owing to the fact that informal businesses purchase from formal business, government programmes should focus more on supporting informal business to be successful without requiring them to be formalised.Contribution/value-add: The business model of the craft traders in Tembisa has been unpacked. Insight has been gained into their economic challenges and the measures that a local authority could implement to empower and assist these women.

How can street routines inform state regulation? Learning from informal traders in Baclaran, Metro Manila

Informal vendors have occupied the streets of Metro Manila’s Baclaran district since the 1950s. Their presence has generated policies seeking to manage or banish street hawking. Years of street occupancy, however, have enabled the vendors to enforce grassroots mechanisms to appropriate streetscapes. In this paper, I analyse three routinised practices - the haging occupancy, the Bermonths routine and the various finance-generating schemes - that have enabled vendors to persist amidst the changing socio-political conditions. These practices capture the Baclaran hawkers’ insecure access to contested spaces, how they capitalise on a socio-temporal dimension of informality, how they cope with economic distress, and how they enforce a set of property rights arrangements. Understanding these grassroots practices, which are embedded in the precarity of street life, can inform responsive policies on urban informal trading.