Operational challenges of informal trading: A case of Mbare Mupedzanhamo Flea Market in Harare, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Informal trading has been in existence since time of immemorial. In Zimbabwe, the phenomenal growth of informal trading is deeply rooted in the economic policies which government pursued especially after the first decade of political independence in 1980. The Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) from 1991 to 1995 ushered in a new era on the economic landscape, with trade liberalisation being an integral cog of the programme. This opened up the economy, inviting competition against locally produced products. Restructuring ensued across economic sectors, leading to retrenchments. The informal sector became a natural reservoir for the majority of those people who were retrenched from the formal sector. The debilitating economic conditions which obtained in the years preceding the adoption of a multi-currency regime in early 2009 led to further a contraction of the formal sector. Those deposited involuntarily in the informal sector are facing a raft of challenges among them, increased competition, depressed consumer demand and lack of proper working infrastructure. For survival, they resort to using both conventional and unorthodox strategies. The purpose of this study was therefore to examine the operational challenges which the traders in the clothing flea market business were facing.