“There is no money in this festive season!! “
20 December 2021
Jeremiah Harrison
Festive season, the busiest period of the year brings high hopes to everyone especially those in the commercial sector-informal and formal.
The current year turns out different as vendors are disappointed with low business this festive season.
Is it due to the pandemic (Covid 19) or is it the high flactuating inflation of the deteriorating Zimbabwean economy?
The worst is normally expected in January (January disease) after people would have spent all their hardly-earned pennies and bonuses on Christmas holidays enjoying with their families and friends.
“Moneyless Christmas”, some have named it.
Christmas day is this week and business is still running low, there is no hope that sales will increase.
Zim GBC News spoke to a number of vendors in the streets of Bulawayo.
Sanelisiwe Ncube a vendor who has been selling potatoes, tomatoes, onions amongst other vegetables since 2005 said,
“Kweminye iminyaka siyabe sikhala kodwa kuyabe kungcono siyakhona ukuthengela abantwana bethu impahla zeKhisimusi, ngo December kunje kuyabe kuyisiphithiphithi kuthengwa kakhulu kodwa kulonyaka kunzima ibusiness ayihambi”
In other years business is usually high during December enabling us to buy Christmas clothes for our children but as of this year business is very low “
She has been surviving from her business of vegetables vending to buy food, pay rentals, school fees for her two children and every year Christmas clothes
Zim GBC News team revisited the newly renovated Bulawayo Small and Medium Centre at OK Mart Complex.
Speaking to Mr Mabhena who is into fashion designing, operating at the centre.
He said that they are happy with the renovations that took place improving the conditions of their workspace at this centre but deplored low business.
He said “We are happy with the renovations that took place at this SME centre but unfortunately we are not yet getting new customers, we still have our old customers”
Another entrepreneur at Bulawayo SME Centre who chose to remain unknown said that he appreciates the great work done by the stakeholders in improving the conditions.
He also stated that he feels as if the place is too isolated from the CBD and as a result the business is a bit low at the centre as compared to the space he was renting in the CBD.
“To be honest the SME centre has good security, good working space but its location is a bit isolated from our markets in CBD maybe as time goes on customers will get used to the place”
“Initially before the renovations the rentals were not affordable at all but after the renovations its now better, we pay our rentals in any form of currency to Old Mutual”
He went on to comment on this disappointing festive season.
“This December there is no business at all, its just like any other time of the year”.
Bulawayo SME Centre was officially opened on 13 December 2021 by the International Labour Organization (ILO) alongside Bulawayo Chamber of SMEs amongst various stakeholders.
The main purpose of the Centre is to formalise the informal sector.
According to statistics provided, businesses in the OK Mart Centre are mainly owner managed with 40.4% having started operations more than 6 year ago. 158 people including the owners are employed by the business, more than 80% of the workers do not have signed contracts.
The majority of the businesses 74.6 % are into manufacturing various wares followed by the service sector at 16.4%.
Almost half 44.6 % of the businesses operating from this new SME centre are not registered/sole propietorships and one-third (32.3 %) are registered as Private Limited Companies.
According to several business people operating at Bulawayo SME Centre, they have not yet gained new customers since the renovations of the working space.
Zim GBC *News