Bulawayo, (Bulawayo) – 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$1:40 ZiG to obtain the only
currency accepted by tuckshops.
Martha Ngulube, a resident of Magwegwe North, shared her plight,
explaining that she was forced to exchange her ZiG at a black-market
rate of 40 to buy groceries on the informal shops.
“Retail shops are not well stocked, and we don’t know why. I earn ZiG,
but tuckshops only want USD. The government needs to step in,” she said.
An anonymous employee at a local retail shop revealed that the store had
not received any new stock since December last year, leaving shelves
empty.
The employee also highlighted that the official ZiG exchange rate makes
their products more expensive compared to those sold at tuckshops,
driving customers away.
Marvin Chitiga, a local nurse, said consumers risk purchasing
counterfeit or expired products from the informal sector but have no
other options at the moment.
“We risk buying fake or expired products at tuckshops, but what choice
do we have? Retail giants are empty. I paid US$ 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’d have to go to the black market to buy
forex again. It’s 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,
emphasizing 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 Minister Mthuli Ncube stated that these measures aim to level
the playing field between formal and informal sectors.
New Ziana