THE PLIGHT OF CROSS-BORDER TRADERS

. Danisa Masuku
FOR most in the field, cross border trading is a strategy to climb out of poverty, as such, ita��s a struggle of everyday experiences for people in the informal sector.

Successful business people have emerged and many university graduates, fulltime academics and professionals have been made out of cross border trade earnings.

Because of that, many still believe they can earn a living and make life better for their children through buying and selling of imported goods such as sneakers and other not readily available luxury and basic goods. Others even export.

Nomalanga Moyo runs a flea market stall in Bulawayo. Shea��s strategically located because therea��s huge traffic that passes right infront of her as people go to and from the busiest commuter omnibus rank in the city. However, lately because of stringent legalities around imports she has no choice but to break the law. She calls it a�?bendinga�?.

a�?I sell shoes and they (Zimra) only allow three pairs of shoes per person to pass through, so for us to bring more shoes for sale, we have to use uncouth means like smuggling,a�? she said.

If she is to pay duty for her wares, her profits would dwindle but if only she had substantial money to stock bigger volumes she could use the legal route.

a�?With capital I wouldna��t mind doing things the right way because smuggling has its headaches,a�? she said.

Mthabisi Khanye sells imported electrical gadgets but transport and money transfer are his biggest problems.

a�?Here therea��s no one who has a Point -Of -Sale (POS) machine and that affects our business because most of the people dona��t have hard cash. Use of Ecocash or Telecash is a problem because in most cases the agents do not have cash,a�? he said.

Travel to countries such as China, South Africa and others to get stock is usually made difficult by unavailability of ready currency. Some have tried to upgrade their businesses into bigger entities through approaching banks and micro finance companies, but they end up falling into the debt trap, before they know it, their collateral will be up for auctioning.

a�?Lending rates are too high and we are given short periods to pay back before we even realise profits. Ita��s as if we are not supposed to grow,a�? Zimbabwe Chamber of Small to Medium Enterprises a�� Bulawayo chapter chairperson Energy Majazi said.

Luckily, the funding issue could be a thing of the past since the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe-owned lending group Homelink provided a $15 million loan facility for Zimbabweans in the informal sector.

The Cross-Border Tradersa�� Association (ZCBTA), has started an ambitious project countrywide that will rope in cross border traders to benefit from the facility.

But the biggest worry among traders is that they might not benefit from the money considering that they are not credit worthy. However, ZCBTA president Killer Zivhu said that wona��t be an issue.

a�?They (cross border traders) dona��t have creditworthiness as required by financial institutions so we want to make it easy for our people through this facility,a�? he said. To get funding will be as a�?easy as ABCa�?.

a�?Traders will only need a letter from the ZCBTA in order to access as much foreign currency as they would want when they are ready to travel outside for business,a�? he added.

The money will be paid out through Agribank.

A launch is slated for Bulawayo on Monday, another was held in Chitungwiza last week.