Zimbabwe’s Currency Problems affect Traditional Stores, while night Bazaars Thrive
In order to avoid police raids that are common during the day, people in Zimbabwe are avoiding traditional grocery stores and instead buying at unofficial and illicit marketplaces that appear at night. The administration had hoped that the April introduction of a new currency would end the long-running money problem that has seen six currencies introduced by southern African nations.
However, licensed stores that are required by law to take it are currently suffering from its depreciation. In the meantime, unregulated informal traders drastically cut their prices by only charging in the more stable dollar.
However, after the sun sets, sidewalks, verandahs of businesses or offices, and parking lots transform into unconventional outdoor marketplaces that sell various goods, including fresh meat, groceries, electronics, clothing, medications, fashion accessories, and stationery.
Informal traders, including children, provide better deals because they are not constrained by growing energy prices, taxes, or regulations requiring formal retailers to take local currency at artificially low official exchange rates. On the street, a box of juice that costs $3 at the store is half as expensive.
Batsirai Pabwe, 30, says, “It’s really affordable,” and he’s relieved that he could pack a garbage bag full of stuff for about $20. Oswald Gari, a street seller who only works at night after the cops leave, claims that “business is booming.
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