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THE number of self-employed Zimbabweans has increased by five percent this year as more people join the informal sector amid job cuts by big companies, a survey indicates.
The Zimbabwe All Media Products Survey (Zamps) for the first half of the year indicates the number of self- employed people rose to 18 percent of the population sample from 13 percent last year.
The survey was conducted on 4,000 adults who represent 3,404,240 (44 percent) of the country’s population.
Of these 69 percent were urbanites and 31 percent from rural areas.
The Zimbabwe Advertising Research Foundation (ZARF), established in Harare in 1997 to commission market research on behalf of advertisers, the media, publishers, advertising agencies and public relations consultancies, commissioned Topline Research Solutions (TRS), a regional market research consultancy, to carry out the Zamps study for three years running from 2014 to 2016.
The last national survey was conducted in 2013 and has been used for comparisons.
The survey also revealed that commercial farmers increased to eight percent from three percent.
The upsurge is widely attributed to the fact that a lot of people are now plot holders after the successful agrarian reform spearheaded by the ruling Zanu-PF government at the turn of the millennium.
“Unemployed 38 percent in 2013, 26 percent in 2014, self-employed 13 percent in 2013, 18 percent in 2014, commercial farmers three percent in 2013, eight percent in 2014, house wife 15 percent in 2013, 14 percent in 2014,” reads part of the survey.
On marital status, the survey noted that marriages increased to 57 percent this year from 47 percent last year.
“Single people now at 29 percent down from 42 percent, divorced stagnant at three percent and widowed 11 percent up from eight percent,” reads the report.
Economic analysts say a lot of people were being forced into self-employment because of retrenchments and shutting down of companies.
Dr Eric Bloch said as more companies retrench and liquidate, more workers venture into the informal sector to fend for their families.
Prosper Chitamhara, an economist, said it was easier for people to be self employed than getting employment.
“Closure of companies is contributing to the self employment. The cost of living is also forcing people to employ themselves so that they have an income to meet their demands,” he said.
Bongani Ngwenya said economic challenges were forcing people to find some means of employment.
According to the Finscope survey of 2012, the SMEs sector in Zimbabwe has an estimated turnover of $7,4 billion circulating within the sector with 2,8 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) owners, owning 3,5 million MSMEs and employing 2,9 million people.
Last month SMEs Minister Sithembiso Nyoni told Parliament due to the sector’s increased potential, it was imperative to look at ways of formalising the informal sector to ensure it contributed to the national economy.
She said it was high time vendors and those in rural areas be legalised and assisted to market their products locally and internationally to ensure they became fully-fledged businesses.
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