Informal traders should insure their businesses

OUR BULAWAYO CORRESPONDENT 

Informal traders should seriously consider taking up business insurance   and hedge their wares against losses, the Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association (BVTA) executive director Mike Ndiweni has said.

The call from Ndiweni comes at a time when insurance is the lowest priority item on their list because they believe it will negatively impact their profit margins.

It also comes at a time when numerous flea markets across the country are being destroyed by fire, costing informal traders millions of dollars’ worth of goods.

Only a week ago, a fire destroyed Bulawayo’s popular Mutizi flea market, which was located behind the High Court on Lobengula Street, close to the Egodini neighborhood.

In the conflagration, which has cost hundreds of traders a combined ZWL$ 80,000,000 in losses, thousands of goods were reduced to ashes.

“…Informal traders should consider pursuing insurance cover for their goods.Organizations such as ours have tailored insurance packages for informal traders in partnership with insurance service providers such as Champions Insurance with packages as little as US$$5 for a fire policy for stock, medical aid, hospital cash back and funeral cover for such and many other unfortunate occurrences,”Ndiweni said.

Additionally, Ndiweni is pushing Bulawayo City Council (BCC) to declare the flea market incident as a local disaster

“We urge authorities to declare this incident a city disaster and urgently activate all systems to assist informal traders affected by the incident and we also invite well-wishers to come on board and assist informal traders in any form possible. We also pray that authorities will leave no stone unturned in pursuit of the cause of the inferno, “said Ndiweni.

Since the informal economy accounts for about 80% of the nation’s GDP and provides a living for many families, informal trading has evolved into the foundation of our economy.

Linos Phiri, the interim chief fire officer for Bulawayo, said that numerous priceless items, including clothing, groceries, detergents, gas cylinders, stoves, and other unidentified items, were destroyed in the fire at the flea market in Bulawayo.

“ The fire was not reported promptly to the fire brigade resulting in this severe damage.”

A committee member of the Mutize flea market traders,  Opper Mataswa said: “We lost everything here. The fire tender at one time ran out of water while the fire was still blazing. This flea market is mainly operated by widows and grandmothers who will be trying to fend for their families but now there is nothing for them.”