BRILLIANT MAVHIMA
The coming of the Covid-19 pandemic has further exposed the weaknesses of operating in unregulated markets.
Besides the economic disadvantages that the informal operators present, the pandemic proved that these kinds of markets are easy to paralyse.
The efforts by the government of Zimbabwe to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic that included social distancing, lockdowns, controlled movements and controlled business operations rendered the operation of the informal markets impossible. Only formally planned markets like Mbare Musika Vegetable Markets, for example, remained open.
The closure of businesses following the pandemic allowed the government in collaboration with the City of Harare the opportunity to demolish the structures that had been erected by informal operators, with areas like Mbare and Zindoga being the most common cases.
This effort saw a number of the informal operators losing their livelihoods. While the efforts seem inhumane at first instance, it allows the government (local and central) the opportunity to design and develop formal Small to Medium Enterprises’ more sustainable markets.
The sustainability of the formal markets can be seen through the following comparison of the informal and formal markets:
Existing informal markets
Space Barons — The areas are generally run by space barons that collect some revenue in return for alleged protection from potential disturbances, be it the law or other competitors.
While these have proven to be nothing more than scams that dupe the vendors of their hard-earned resources, they also do not pay any revenues thereby making it hard for the Zimbabwean economy to be world-class by 2030 (the economy is estimated to be between 70-90% informal).
Subsistence economy — Informal markets are often driven by poverty and the need to survive. As such, vendors operate on a hand to mouth basis, hindering them from growing to become huge enterprises and employers.
Chaotic — The way informal markets operate is so disorganised. This makes them impossible to regulate and operate in the context of a pandemic.
This degree of chaos then leads to informal markets closing down during lockdowns. Given that the informal markets take a huge chunk of the Zimbabwe economy, it implies the crippling down of the economy during every lockdown.
Service infrastructure — Often informal markets are set without council or government involvement.
This leads to the development of a huge market without any form of infrastructure. Without the presence of basic infrastructure like water and sanitation, the informal markets become centres for waterborne pandemics like cholera, dysentery and typhoid.
Insecurity — Insecurity is a central bond between the informal vending operators and the space barons. It is through insecurities that the vendors pay the barons for protection. However, the story does not end there.
Informal markets are associated with other insecurities like theft and unforeseen events like fire outbreak. An example is of Glen View Area 8 market.
The market is frequently consumed by fire outbreaks, however, because of its informal nature; the risk remains nothing but a normal phenomenon.
Suggested formal markets
Tenure Security — Formal markets are well run by the government, which allows the operator security of tenure as well as a guarantee of operation without disturbances.
Business growth — Operating from a space that one has tenure and the guarantee of one’s position allows for the development of a huge market base and consequently becoming a bigger business owner. This moves markets from merely being subsistence businesses to actual viable businesses.
Well planned — The formal markets are well designed with proper demarcations and areas of operation. These demarcations and proper areas of operation can make it easy for the control and management of the area in the case of a pandemic, theft or any other unforeseen events. Furthermore, the areas are designed with the needed infrastructure, making them sustainable to operate in.
Revenue — The operation of formal markets will make it easy for local and/or central government to collect revenue from the operators thereby allowing the operators to contribute to the national purse, pushing the national agenda of becoming a middle-income economy by 2030.
Security — Formal markets make it safe and secure to do business in market areas. To the operators, it becomes easy to insure against any fires or unforeseen events. For the citizens, it becomes secure to deal with operators as you can track them in case of returns or disagreements.
Opportunities
The demolitions that have occurred are the hardest step towards the development of sustainable formal markets. The areas that have been demolished present a new canvas for the design of new markets that allows the informal market to be central in propelling Zimbabwe into becoming a world-class economy.
The vendors lose their property every time there is a clean-up campaign, implying that any opportunity to guarantee their security by the government will be welcome.
Way forward
Development is a process of negotiation. The government should consider designing and developing new markets following what is termed “Lean Urbanism”. This entails lowering the bureaucracies and the costs associated with developing market places all this should be done in collaboration with the market operators.
Brilliant Mavhima holds a Master’s degree in Rural and Urban Planning. He operates as a spatial planning and design consultant under Planning Lab Pvt Limited. He can be contacted on +263775685325 or email at info@planninglab.co.zw or brilliant@planninglab.co.zw.
