
Business Writer/New Ziana
Residents in the second largest city are grappling with a severe shortage of essential goods in retail shops, forcing them to turn to tuckshops that exclusively trade in foreign currency.
A survey by New Ziana showed that several reputable retail outlets in the city are poorly stocked, leaving consumers with no choice but to rely on informal traders who do not accept the local currency, ZiG.
The shelves of many retail shops are nearly empty, with visibly few customers using swipe cards to purchase the limited items available.
Frustrated locals have resorted to selling their ZiG on the black market to obtain foreign currency at the rate of US$1:40 ZiG to obtain the only currency accepted by tuckshops.
Martha Ngulube, a resident of Magwegwe North, shared her plight, explaining that she was forced to exchange her ZiG at a black-market rate of 40 to buy groceries on the informal shops.
“Retail shops are not well stocked, and we do not know why. I earn ZiG, but tuckshops only want USD. The government needs to step in,” she said.
An anonymous employee at a local retail shop revealed that the store had not received any new stock since December last year, leaving shelves empty.
The employee also highlighted that the official ZiG exchange rate makes their products more expensive compared to those sold at tuckshops, driving customers away.
Marvin Chitiga, a local nurse, said consumers risk purchasing counterfeit or expired products from the informal sector but have no other options at the moment.
“We risk buying fake or expired products at tuckshops, but what choice do we have? Retail giants are empty. I paid US$ 5 for a pest control spray at a retail shop because I had ZiG, but the same product was US$ 2 at the tuckshops,” he said.
Chitiga added that many retail shops are now stocked with luxury items such as perfumes over basic necessities like soap, cooking oil, sugar, mealie meal, and salt.
Economic analyst, McDonald Ncube, attributed the crisis to Government exchange rate policies, which he claims are pushing customers away from formal retailers.
“The exchange rate policies are driving people to tuck shops. Even formal businesses struggle with change issues because no one is buying with foreign currency,” Ncube explained.
Phillip Tshuma, a tuckshop owner along 6th Avenue, defended the informal sector’s reliance on USD.
“We import our products and pay duties in foreign currency. Trading in ZiG is difficult because we would have to go to the black market to buy forex again. It is not sustainable,” he said.
The Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers (CZR) recently raised alarm over the dire state of the formal retail and wholesale sector, citing the closure of several high-profile retailers, including OK Zimbabwe and Choppies, which also exited the country.
CZR president, Denford Mutashu, called for urgent Government intervention, emphasising the need to formalise the informal sector, reduce regulatory burdens and support formal retailers.
In response, the Government has introduced stringent measures to protect the formal sector, including discouraging manufacturers from supplying informal traders and mandating the use of point-of-sale machines by all informal businesses.
Finance, Economic Development and Investment, Minister Mthuli Ncube, stated that these measures aim to level the playing field between formal and informal sectors. – New Ziana