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Vendor licensing on the cards

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BULAWAYO Vendors and Traders Association (BVTA) has embarked on financial literacy and business inclusion management drive with the aim of capacitating its members to grow and sustain their micro-enterprises. BVTA executive director Mr Michael Mdladla Ndiweni said there was a need to impart vendors and cross-border traders with requisite business management skills so as to grow their enterprises and enhance their livelihoods. BVTA is a membership-based organisation of vendors and informal traders that was established in 2015 and exists to expand economic opportunities for the urban poor in Bulawayo. “We are conducting a series of capacity building training workshops on financial literacy and business inclusion management, targeting vendors and traders. The whole idea is to try and help them expand their businesses, identify business opportunities and also to improve their financial management, be it in vending, informal trading or cross-border trading. So, we are trying to give them the skills on how to effectively manage their own small enterprises,” he said. BVTA is conducting the workshops in collaboration with the Bulawayo Progressive Resident Association with a Bulawayo-based micro-finance institution, MOB Capital Private Limited being its technical partner. Mr Ndiweni said the capacity building workshops are mainly targeting women as they are the ones that make up the largest numbers of vendors and cross-border traders. “From the study, we carried out in 2017 we realised that a huge number of traders don’t have the (requisite) skills. You find a person has been having a small box of onions and tomatoes for the past 15 years and selling the same products, the same place and has never grown. It’s because they don’t know that they are in business. “They (traders) are only doing it for subsistence, just to put a meal on the table. They have never thought of growth but ofcourse, about 13 percent of those we managed to interview during our study said they had been driven by entrepreneurship passion, they want to grow and be like multinational corporations but some just do it for subsistence,” he said. Owing to the massive closure of companies and downsizing of workers by most of the firms throughout the country due to a myriad of economic challenges, a number of people that were affected by the turn of events resorted to eking out a living through informal trade such as vending and cross-border trading. “Our hope is that when they are given these skills, they will realise their potential and maybe generate their ideas and improve and become fully-fledged businesspersons. We are trying to introduce them to a number of types of businesses such as being a sole trader, partnerships, co-operatives, private limited companies among others.  “We are also introducing them to statutory requirements should one want to register a company. We are also encouraging them to pay their (vending) licences so that they don’t lose their goods to municipality police for selling at undesignated places. So, we are encouraging them to have all the necessary paperwork,” said Mr Ndiweni. He said there was a need for vendors to comply with the local authority’s regulations so as to push the council to expedite the construction of vending sites. Bulawayo City Council estimates that there are more than 7 000 vendors in the Central Business District with only a handful having heeded the local authority’s calls to register and legalise their operations.  Mr Ndiweni said the roping in of MOB Capital was also meant to facilitate its members access to capital to finance or expand enterprises although the onus was to encourage them to come up with their own self-financing initiatives.  “The reason why we are bringing in companies like MOB Capital and others is trying to leverage on their access to micro-finance or loans to support their businesses but also this training will encourage them to come up with their alternative financing skills doing their own internal lending schemes, revolving funds, co-operative societies as an alternative from depending on loan sharks and micro-financers,” he said. Last year BVTA developed a living Systems Map that ensures systems practice to analyse and understand the dynamics at play in the Informal Cross Border Traders (ICBTs) eco-system. “We developed a Systems Map where we are saying all players in the ICBTs ecosystem must come together and try to incorporate solutions. Of late it has been a civil society that side, Government on the other side and the private sector on their side and other players on their own as well. So, we are saying, let’s come together so that we develop what we call a Systems Map. This map actually demonstrates the core of problems in the sector. How they manifest, the inhibitors and also shows that Government is losing revenue and the vulnerability of people that are in the sector and also leverage opportunities in terms of what could be done so it’s a map that covers everything . . . ,” said Mr Ndiweni. MOB Capital managing director Mr Morris Mpala said the training workshops are part of the efforts of formalising traders as well as facilitating for their financial inclusion.  “As you are aware a lot of them are informal and we are just there to bring about their formalisation and then formalisation will always bring about financial inclusion because most vendors are part of the secluded part of the economy as it is. So, there is a need to bring them out and make them understand how business is run and how they can probably raise funds through pulling together,” he said.

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Financial literacy lessons for vendors

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Many workers from company executives to even the last person on the factory floor, always dream of becoming businesspeople when they finally leave employment. What only differs is the size of capital injected into the business. These people, in the case of Zimbabwe, will join hundreds of thousands if not millions who are already in the informal sector. Besides, official statistics say small businesses, mainly family businesses, provide between 60 and 70 percent employment in the world. Realising the centrality of small business in the economy, the Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association (BVTA) has embarked on a financial literacy and business inclusion management drive with the thrust of capacitating members to grow and sustain their micro-enterprises. BVTA executive director Michael Mdladla Ndiweni revealed there was a need to impart vendors and cross-border traders with requisite business management skills so as to grow their enterprises and enhance their livelihoods. BVTA is a membership-based organisation established in 2015. “We are conducting a series of capacity building training workshops on financial literacy and business inclusion management, targeting vendors and traders. The whole idea is to try and help them expand their businesses, identify business opportunities and also to improve their financial management, be it in vending, informal trading or cross-border trading. So, we are trying to give them the skills on how to effectively manage their own small enterprises,” he said. BVTA is conducting the workshops in collaboration with the Bulawayo Progressive Resident Association with a Bulawayo-based micro-finance institution, MOB Capital (Private) Limited being its technical advisor. Mr Ndiweni said the capacity building workshops are mainly targeting women as they comprise the largest numbers of vendors and cross-border traders. “From the study, we carried out in 2017 we realised that a huge number of traders don’t have the (requisite) skills. You find a person has been having a small box of onions and tomatoes for the past 15 years and selling the same products, the same place and has never grown. It’s because they don’t know that they are in business. “They (traders) are only doing it for subsistence, just to put a meal on the table. They never thought of growth but, of course, about 13 percent of those we managed to interview during our study said they had been driven by entrepreneurship passion. They want to grow and be like multinational corporations but some just do it for subsistence,” he said. Owing to the closure of companies and downsizing of workers by most of the firms throughout the country due to sanctions-induced economic challenges, a number of people that were affected by the turn of events resorted to eking out a living through informal trade. “Our hope is that when they are given these skills, they will realise their potential and maybe generate their ideas and improve and become fully-fledged business persons. We are trying to introduce them to a number of types of businesses such as sole traders, partnerships, cooperatives and private limited companies, among others. “We are also introducing them to statutory requirements should one want to register a company. We are also encouraging them to pay their (vending) licences so that they don’t lose their goods to municipal police for selling on undesignated places without licences. So, we are encouraging them to have all the necessary paperwork,” said Mr Ndiweni. Bulawayo City Council estimates that there are more than 7 000 vendors in the Central Business District with only a handful having heeded the local authority’s call to register and legalise their operations. Mr Ndiweni said the roping in of MOB Capital was also meant to give its members access to capital to finance or expand enterprises although the objective was to encourage them to come up with their own self-financing initiatives. “The reason why we are bringing in companies like MOB Capital and others is trying to leverage on their access to micro-finance or loans to support their businesses but also this training will encourage them to come up with their alternatives financing skills doing their own internal lending schemes, revolving funds, cooperative societies as an alternative from depending on loan sharks and micro-financers,” he said. Last year BVTA developed a living Systems Map that ensures systems practice to analyse and understand the dynamics at play in the Informal Cross Border Traders (ICBTs) eco-system. “We developed a Systems Map where we are saying all players in the ICBTs ecosystem must come together and try to incorporate solutions. Of late it has been a civil society that side, Government on the other side and the private sector on their side and other players on their own as well …,” said Mr Ndiweni. MOB Capital managing director Mr Morris Mpala said the workshops are part of the efforts of formalising traders as well as facilitating their financial inclusion. “As you are aware a lot of them are informal and we are just there to bring about their formalisation and then formalisation will always bring about financial inclusion because most vendors are part of the secluded part of the economy as it is. So, there is a need to bring them out and make them understand how business is run and how they can probably raise funds through pulling together…,” he said.

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140 000 Bulawayo SMEs need working space

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GOVERNMENT has directed the Bulawayo City Council to avail more working space for budding entrepreneurs in the city amid indications that about 140 000 small to medium enterprises (SMEs) lack proper working places. This emerged during a public meeting held at Mhlahlandlela Government Complex in Bulawayo last week to discuss SMEs businesses.  In her address, Deputy Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises, Jennifer Mhlanga, said the absence of conducive working places for SMEs was crippling operations as most of them operate in limited spaces that hinder their growth. She said provision of large working places will not only boost production but will also promote job creation.  “The primary challenge that our SMEs face in their operations is the aspect of working places. Even if you look at some of the most successful small players, for example in the manufacturing of furniture and steel making fabrication, you will find that their space of operation is limited,” said Mhlanga.  “In limiting the working space, they cannot expand their business and cannot produce more. They even fail to employ more people because space does not allow them to. “We are therefore appealing to our local authorities to create working spaces for the SMEs. We want the SMEs to utilise the large idle spaces here in Bulawayo.” The Deputy Minister said they will also embark on a multi-sectoral approach that will give provision to SMEs to make use of industrial space in the city that is not being utilised to help them expand operations. “We also want to put these SMEs into the factory spaces that are not in use. It is certainly something that we can approach in a multi-sectoral approach where we will first talk to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the private sector and the local authorities. It is a matter that we must tackle urgently because working spaces are lying idle while 140 000 SMEs are crowded,” she said The Deputy Minister urged SMEs to work hard and produce adequate basic commodities for the city including meeting food security demands. “Let us aspire to produce more than 80 percent of the basic goods for both our families and the country. As Bulawayo you should produce abundantly to be able to export not only to provinces but also outside the country,” she said. Meanwhile, Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association (BVTA) director, Mr Michael Ndiweni, said Government should prioritise cross border traders when processing applications for passports. “About 40 percent of income in our economy comes from people who do cross border trading. These are people who can either export or bring commodities into the country,” he said.  — @michellzvanyanyan2/@natashaadam1

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BVTA and WICBTA concerned over sexual abuse of female traders

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BULAWAYO Vendors and Traders Association in conjunction with Women Informal Cross Border Traders Association (WICBTs) have expressed concerns over the unfair treatment of women traders in the city. The organisations have come up with mechanisms meant to curb problems for vulnerable groups of people especially women involved in the informal cross-border trading sectors. BVTA Executive Director Michael Ndiweni said they realized that many people in the ICBTs sector face challenges when they engage in their day to day business especially women. “We are trying to change the way people do informal trading. We are coming up with strategies of how challenges they face can be curbed,” Ndiweni said.   WICBTs representative Abigal Njega said they came up with the systems mapping browsing around the effects that enable and inhibit women to engage on fair and acknowledged cross border trading. “What we did is we confirmed first from all informal traders and stakeholders what challenges they face. We did not want to base this approach on what we think but we wanted the opinions from the horse’s mouth to come up with systems mapping. So what they did is they told their experiences and gathered all the information to come up with the causes and effects that challenge ICBTs,” Njega said. Njega said they are looking at women because they are the most vulnerable group and sometimes they are forced to engage in shady things to pave the way to get what they want. “Women end up using other alternatives of paying their way out and this involves sexual harassment. One might be forced to engage into such mainly just to gain favour for instance in order for their goods to passing through the border post. Its either they pay in cash or in kind,” she said. She said the approach does not only look at the challenges faced but it also looks at the patterns in the informal cross border trading sector hence it also looks at the deterioration and abuse of citizen rights leaving much of the population vulnerable especially women. Njega said 78% in the sector are women, they fear to challenge authority to fix things and usually expect a man to be put in the forefront hence this tends to increase their vulnerability thus the more they are prone to abuse which further lowers self-esteem and in the ICBTs sector, they become invisible. Source – Byo24News

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Traders pushing for special travel documents

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Informal Traders in Bulawayo have embarked in efforts to push authorities to provide special travel documents for the traders as they wait for their passports considering the long waiting time before the official travel documents are processed. The traders indicated that they were into cross border purchasing of goods for resale so passports were their source of livelihood hence the delays by the authorities to process them was affecting their business. Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association (BVTA) director Michael Ndiweni said traders wait for a year to get a passport and this means that all their businesses would be grounded. “We buy goods from outside the country and waiting for so long means that we are doomed. We are calling on the government to consider a special travel document to traders especially women,” said Ndiweni. Source – Byo24News

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ZACC set to investigate GMB senior management in Bulawayo

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THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) is set to investigate GMB senior management and sales representatives in Bulawayo after a task force that was formed to probe the shortage of mealie-meal unearthed that at least 60 percent of Government-subsidised mealie-meal was allegedly being diverted to the black market. Bulawayo has been identified as a hotbed of mealie-meal black market activities with huge stockpiles of the subsided mealie meal being sold on the streets and cash shops dotted around the city centre, while few shops, most retail shops, are selling the product at the official price. In the few instances where the shops receive the mealie-meal, it quickly runs out with accusations that shops also sell to traders who in turn sell it on the black market. Some retail shops also use the product in their deli sections where they sell isitshwala at high prices. A 10-kilogramme bag of subsidised mealie-meal is officially pegged at $50 but is sold at between $65 and $70 in cash only by illegal shops and street vendors. In the latest development, a maize taskforce led by Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Raj Modi unearthed a well-orchestrated roller meal scandal at Silo Foods Industries in Bulawayo where some managers have allegedly teamed up with sales representatives to divert the subsidised commodity meant for retailers to the black market. The task force has engaged Zacc over its findings, sources said. The task force last week made a surprise visit at Silo Foods Industries’ factory at Belmont industrial area where it allegedly discovered an invoice book that was being used by the perpetrators of the scam. It also came across 50kg bags of maize meal, which are suspected to be sold to shadowy retailers against Government’s directive to millers to supply shops with 20kgs and 10kgs. “These incidents of fraud are tantamount to stealing food from the mouths of hungry Zimbabweans. This is corruption at its highest level. We can’t allow such malpractices to go on unchecked. To this end, we have suspended the sales representative who was getting most of the mealie-meal allocation from Silo Foods Industries in Bulawayo. We found their (employees maize meal allocation) explanation absurd and we suspended that arrangement forthwith. Besides it leads to a conflict of interests, fuels the black market and accelerates inflation. We have also demanded a comprehensive report from management,” said Deputy Minister Modi. He said it was disheartening to note that Silo Foods employees went against the company’s mandate of availing affordable foodstuffs to citizens. “Silo Foods Industries was formed to provide affordable food to Zimbabweans who are falling victim to heartless retailers who are out to profiteer. It is thus saddening to discover that people we tasked with bringing relief to Zimbabweans are actually oiling the black-market machinery,” said Deputy Minister Modi. Silo Foods Industries started operations in April last year after the Government unbundled GMB into two entities — Strategic Grain Reserve and Silo Foods Industries as part of its public enterprise reform programme. Deputy Minister Modi said although the country was faced with a drought, it has come to the attention of the taskforce that some of the food shortages were self-inflicted by some unscrupulous individuals. “The shortage of mealie-meal has nothing to do with drought, all of this is man-made. All of this has to do with corrupt individuals in positions of authority who don’t put people’s interests at the core of their actions. It’s a disgrace, criminal, it’s wrong, and it needs to end,” he fumed. A snap survey by the Sunday News at most black-market thriving places in Bulawayo revealed that the Silo brand of mealie-meal together with other brands was in abundance while most shops have gone for over two months without the commodity. GMB general manager Mr Rockie Mutenha told Sunday News that the rate of black-market activities involving maize meal in Bulawayo was alarming. He said he was not sure how their product was found on the black market in abundance. “What is happening with the people in Bulawayo is that somehow some of them buy mealie-meal in bulk and channel it to the black market and it’s even sold in the dead of the night. We are bringing in maize and milling it but unfortunately, we can’t do anything about black market activities, that has to be dealt with at policy level,” he said. Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers president Mr Denford Mutashu who is also part of the task force committee said there was a need for Government to increase maize imports into the country so as to curb black-market activities. “We are putting all the resources in ensuring that the country has enough maize and to make sure that what has been milled actually follows a proper distribution pattern. We don’t know the origins of the maize meal, which is found on the black market. What we (retailers) are receiving from the millers is exactly what we are selling to the consumers.  “We have some players that have also decided to go across borders to bring in mealie-meal, so we also have brands from South Africa and Botswana. We believe that at some stage the market will saturate. So far there are gaps but once the market saturates all the challenges will begin falling out but we cannot expect that to happen as long as there isn’t enough maize in the country to mill.”  National Consumer Rights Association (Nacora) advocacy advisor, Mr Effie Ncube accused some unscrupulous millers and retailers of feeding the informal sector with maize meal culminating in the artificial shortage of the commodity on the formal market. “The rampant black-market activities involving mealie-meal tells us that the eradication of corruption should be of the uppermost priority. There are millers and supermarkets that are colluding with black-market players to sell mealie-meal in cash. They deliver it straight to the black market or hide it in the storerooms and deliver it later on the dark alleys,” he said. Mr Ncube added that: “Government and Zacc must come down hard on these

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October Newsletter

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BVTA SAVES A VENDOR FROM TRUMPED UP CHARGES BY BYO MUNICIPAL POLICE Doreen Selimani (35) was rescued by BVTA after some unscrupulous Bulawayo municipal police officers laid trumped up charges against her in an attempt to cover up for the broken arm injury inflicted upon her 15 year old daughter during a scuffle to seize her goods in their routine violent raids.   FROM A VENDOR TO AN AWARD WINNING BUSINESS WOMAN Lillian Musipani (34), Chairperson of Ward 26 Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association (BVTA) Executive Committee and Award winning detergent producer shares her story of how BVTA capacity building trainings turned her fortunes. Musipani is a recipient of the BVTA’s Institutional Strengthening Project that equipped 600 vendors and informal traders with requisite knowledge on their rights and responsibilities.   COORDINATOR’S NOTE BVTA has made progress simply because its Board, Executive Committee, Secretariat and Members have a unity of purpose that is focused on ensuring that our members and all informal traders get a better deal from the local authority. As BVTA, we are grateful for the support we have received from our partners such as the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), Olof Palme and LACEP who have supported our quest to achieve an inclusive economy and the active participation of informal traders in policy formulation.   Read more of the newsletter by downloading the PDF file here. Download

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Vendors demand arrest of money changers

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BULAWAYO Vendors and Traders’ Association (BVTA) has rapped the government and local authorities for clamping down on its members, while illegal cash dealers are left to operate freely on street corners. In a statement to mark commemorations of International Workers’ Day yesterday, BVTA said it was shocked by the selective application of the law, where vendors are brutally raided, while money changers on street corners are left untouched. “We call upon the local authority to treat all citizens in an equal manner and respect their rights as enshrined in the Constitution of Zimbabwe,” the association said. The group said it stood in solidarity with thousands of unemployed Zimbabweans, who have resorted to vending as the only source of livelihood under the country’s prevailing difficult economic environment. “We are still aggrieved that the informal sector is besieged with many challenges ie lack of clear government policies on social security, lack of medical healthcare schemes, but it is the biggest employer with over 5 million Zimbabweans,” part of the statement read. “We are deeply concerned that at local level informal workers are facing a glaring criminalisation of their sector, municipal law enforcement agents are unleashed to conduct violent raids that have maimed vendors and left trails of destruction. Their goods continue to be confiscated and disappear on their way to storage facilities.” BVTA demanded clarity on the meaning of the formalisation of the informal sector when informal workers were made to go through a rigorous police vetting process and completion of registration forms in application for vending licences at municipal offices, but some sectors of the society still argue vendors are not formalised. “We hope this year’s Workers Day commemorations provided an opportunity for the government to pause and reflect on the informal sector and provide decent working conditions for informal workers in order to achieve an inclusive economy,” it said. The group said government should put interest of informal workers first and adopt practical steps towards creating conducive conditions for the informal sector to thrive in line with provisions on economic and social rights in the Constitution of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe yesterday joined the rest of the world in commemorating Workers’ Day.

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Bulawayo Municipality, vendors hammer peace deal

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THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has hammered a peace deal with vendors to end running battles between municipal police and informal traders, Southern Eye has learnt. On Tuesday, top council officials met representatives of Bulawayo Vendors’ Trust to “find mutual understanding and address challenges faced by vendors”. The deal came shortly after Bulawayo mayor, Martin Moyo admitted that the local authority had given in on informal traders operating at undesignated sites. He said council was, instead, now urging the illegal vendors to legalise their operations. A follow-up meeting was held on Tuesday, according to the Bulawayo Vendors’ Trust. “BCC pledged to investigate cases of abuse of women and girls, especially at Egodini Terminus, where they are deprived of water by unscrupulous men, who are now selling water from a public tap,” the Bulawayo Vendors’ Trust said in a statement yesterday. “BCC pledged to partner with Bulawayo Vendors’ Trust and Wild Trust Zimbabwe and conduct joint outreach meetings on City of Bulawayo by-laws.” BCC was represented by Elliot Panesu from the engineering department, who was accompanied by other council officials. The Bulawayo Vendors’ Trust added: “BCC also committed to attend to individual grievances arising from vendors, who felt their issues have not been dealt with adequately by some City of Bulawayo officials. “BCC committed to allocate more vending bays to vendors’ associations. BCC pledged to conduct periodic meetings with vendors’ associations.” Both Moyo and council spokesperson, Nesisa Mpofu could not be reached for comment yesterday.

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Byo municipal police injure toddler in a ‘violent’ raid on vendors

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BULAWAYO municipal police reportedly broke the arm of a toddler with a baton stick during a ‘violent’ raid on vendors in the city in a case that has spilled into the courts. The mother of the 15-month old baby whose arm was allegedly broken by municipal police, Doreen Selimani, during the August 19 raid is now suing the Bulawayo City Council (BCC). The matter is set for September 28 at the courts. Selimani is represented by Nozipho Dube, a member of Abammeli Human Rights Lawyers and also a lawyer with Moyo and Nyoni Legal Practitioners. According to the Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association (BVTA), Selimani was selling eggs on the streets when municipal police descended on her stall, assaulting her despite the fact that her baby was strapped on her back, resulting in her child suffering a broken arm. BVTA condemned the heavy-handedness of the municipal cops, describing it as unconstitutional. “The BVTA would like to unequivocally remind the BCC authorities of Section 53 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe that says; no person may be subjected to physical or psychological torture or to cruel inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and the same vein to remind them of the rights of arrested persons. “BVTA further posits that the actions of the municipal police are in violation of Section 19 subsection (2c) of the Constitution that states that the child must be protected from maltreatment, neglect or any form of abuse. BVTA also notes that BCC municipal police violated the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child,” the vendors’ representative organisation said. The BVTA said council must investigate the violent conduct of its municipal officers and prosecute “those that have taken the law unto themselves to injure and maim vendors who were involved in genuine means to earn a living. “We are also aggrieved by unwarranted seizure and confiscation of vendors and informal traders’ goods and generic brutalising and harassment of informal traders and vendors especially defenceless women and girls,” the organisation said. The organisation also called for dialogue with the council to iron out differences between vendors and municipal police. Bulawayo mayor, Martin Moyo has defended the raids on unlicensed vendors insisting they had been given adequate time to relocate to designated sites, adding his council would not backtrack on that issue. Source: www.newsday.co.zw

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