Mbare informal traders pick up the pieces after fire incident

By Ashton Ndakusiya | Oct. 28, 2024

Its vibrant pulse is being reignited by the resilience of informal traders who refuse to be defeated after a devastating fire that occurred earlier this month swept through, leaving little but charred remains of their livelihoods.

THE heart of the Mbare Musika Market, located in one of Harare’s oldest high-density suburb, Mbare, is slowly beginning to beat again.

With sheer determination, the traders have cleared the debris, constructing makeshift shelters in defiance, resolute in rebuilding Zimbabwe’s top informal market and, with it, their hopes.

Mavis Chihoro, a widow, sat beneath a plastic canopy she had pieced together, her hands trembling as she carefully arranged a small heap of second-hand clothes.

Her eyes, red and swollen from a stream of silent tears, gazed out at what used to be her stall.

In this space that now held only ashes, she had once built something far greater than a business; a refuge, a place that offered her the kind of steady comfort she had once found in her husband before he passed on.

This stall was her partner in grief, the one constant in the years since his death, a lifeline she had clung to, providing for her children and keeping her family’s dreams alive.

Now, with everything turned to ashes, the weight of her loss pressed down on her like a storm.

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The stall had not just represented her savings — it had been her foundation, providing for her children’s education and giving her a fragile, but vital sense of security.

As her gaze dropped to the meagre pile of clothes in front of her—a pale shadow of the colourful, bustling display that once thrived — tears welled up once more.

Having borrowed money from her sister, Chihoro has returned to Mbare Musika, hoping to start anew, but nothing felt familiar.

The market held a different rhythm now, one that felt uncertain, laced with pain and the heavy question of what challenges lay just beyond her sight.

“I had finally found a way to heal after losing my husband, but now it feels like losing him all over again. The pain is suffocating and I am struggling to find the strength to carry on,” Chihoro told NewsDay Business, standing in the middle of her once-thriving clothing stall.

“My stall was more than just a business; it was my children’s education, our food, our future. Now it’s all gone. Starting over feels impossible, the pain of losing everything again is suffocating and the fear of failing again is crippling. I am trapped in a cycle of grief and uncertainty.

“I had to borrow money from my sister to buy these clothes, we cannot afford to wait, so we are back, but things are different now. I lost all my savings in that fire.”

And back she is, hoping for a break, a recovery to the time before the deadly fire.

Just a few stalls away, Tinashe Muguti stood beside his nearly empty stall, the weight of his responsibilities etched into his face.

Once brimming with fresh produce, his stall now held just a few crates of tomatoes and onions, barely enough to raise funds to sustain his large family.

As a father-of-eight children, all still in primary school, the pressure on him is more immense.

With each passing day without work, and the children still in school, Muguti now rations his earnings, leaving some of his children without basics.

The exhaustion in his eyes reflected not only the physical toll of his labour but also the overwhelming burden of providing for his family, after the fire reduced his entire stock to ash.

Now, Muguti is forced to start from scratch, selling less than half the vegetables he once sold prior to the fire, a far cry from the bulk he used to sell. This is because he lacks the funds to restock his business to previous levels.

That is why, despite the uncertainty, Muguti is hoping these humble beginnings will reach the heights that once were, as he has eight mouths to feed and school fees to cover.

“Providing for eight children is a constant weight on my shoulders. Losing everything in the fire has made it feel like an impossible task,” he said, like a soldier reliving the horrors of war.

“I used to take pride in being able to provide for my family, but now I'm barely scraping by. The fire has left me with nothing.”

In his eyes, a glint of fear of the unknown lurked within.

“Each day without work means another day my children go without. The thought of failing them keeps me up at night. My children’s future hangs in the balance,” Muguti said, not as hyperbole, but as a haunting reminder.

“If I don't provide, who will. I have no choice but to continue, every day we are not working is another day we cannot put food on the table.”

Both Chihoro’s and Muguti’s stories, are part of the new realities Mbare Musika Market informal traders are facing.

Officially, these traders form an informal sector that contributes between 60% and 70% to economic activity the backbone of the economy.

Research by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe estimated that the informal sector has gross domestic product value of US$8,6 billion and earns an estimated annual revenue of US$14,2 billion.

Despite the high contribution to economic growth, most of these informal traders have little access to insurance products.

“I have heard about it for cars, but for us I did not know it was something we could get. No one talks about insurance here,” Muguti said.

“If something bad happens, you are on your own. We just try to start over again and hope nothing else goes wrong. I do not think we can afford insurance with the little we earn here. We have heard that it is expensive and it is only for rich people in places like Borrowdale.”

For him and other informal traders, insurance is something only talked about on television adverts, something that requires a high income and steady job, unlike vending where earnings are erratic.

Their responses reflect a widespread gap in knowledge about insurance, among informal traders.

With most of their goods exposed and vulnerable to theft or, in this case fires, informal traders face constant risks, but insurance uptake remains low.

Harare City Council spokesperson Stanley Gama said there was a need to upgrade the markets as they were prone to such incidents likes fires.

“At Glen View home industries, we have put in place various fire preventive measures and that is what is needed for such markets as Mbare Musika. It needs to be rebuilt, modernised and strict fire preventive measures put in place,” he said.

Insurance Council of Zimbabwe (ICZ) and the Insurance Institute of Zimbabwe (IIZ) have both acknowledged the urgent need to address this lack of insurance awareness among informal traders.

This is because insurance is not just for big businesses but for the informal sector too.

“Any business owner who approaches an insurer for cover is requested to submit information relating to his/her operations. This includes type of business, risks faced, size of operations and cash flows,” ICZ public relations and marketing manager Ringisai Batiya said.

“The information will be subject to an underwriting process for the appropriate cover to be issued. Once cover is granted, the business operator will activate the policy through required premium payments and adhere.”

She said that the huge number of operators and high risks faced were better insured as a group.

She added that as risk management practices were prioritised, the informal sector required an organised framework to appropriately benefit from insurance.

After all, the central bank did say the informal sector had a US$8,6 billion GDP valuation.

“Traditional business insurance products such as All Assets Risk, Business Interruption and Liability Covers are available, but traders could also consider group insurance options. By pooling resources, informal traders can access lower premiums and better protection,” Batiya said.

The IIZ’s general manager Davison Choeni urged informal traders to enrol in existing insurance products to safeguard their businesses and livelihoods.

“Informal traders can access these insurance products through local insurers like Zimnat, First Mutual and NicozDiamond or through financial literacy workshops conducted by NGOs (non-governmental organisations) like Plan International,” Choeni said.

“Market associations, such as the Zimbabwe Informal Sector Organisation and mobile technology platforms like EcoCash Insurance, also offer access to these products. By enrolling in these insurance products, informal traders can protect their businesses from unforeseen risks, mitigate financial losses, ensure business continuity, access affordable medical care and enhance financial security and resilience.”

In February, the insurance and pensions regulator, the Insurance and Pensions Commissions (Ipec) issued a Microinsurance Regulatory Framework.

Under this framework, Ipec explained that it had adopted the International Association of Insurance Supervisors definition of microinsurance, which is:

“Insurance that is accessed by low-income populations, provided by a variety of different entities, but run in accordance with generally accepted insurance practices.”

Put simply, Ipec has now defined microinsurance as insurance which is appropriate for “the low-income market earning below the poverty datum line as published by the Zimbabwe Statistics Agency from time-to-time and informal sector in respect to cost, terms and conditions, coverage and delivery mechanisms (though anyone else including high net individuals can buy such products)”.

“The risks insured under microinsurance should always be managed based on insurance principles and funded by premiums to enable the creation of an adequate insurance pool,” Ipec said.

“It is important to note that microinsurance is not necessarily the provision of insurance by ‘small’ entities but is more to do with the product features, target market and accessibility by low-income earners including the informal sector.”

Thus, microinsurance is appropriate for the low and irregular-income market in respect to cost, terms and conditions, coverage and delivery mechanisms.

“Low-income households are vulnerable to risks and economic shocks and one way they can protect themselves is through insurance,” Ipec said.

“Microinsurance can be used as a poverty alleviation strategy that assists low-income households to manage risk by providing them with a sense of financial confidence in the face of significant vulnerabilities such as death, injury and illness, loss of property, effects of climate change and other contingent events.”

It added: “The growth of the informal sector, MSMEs and small-scale agricultural sector have also remained largely uninsured, thereby exposing these segments to risks, which can be managed by insurance.”