Unity Village traders to get loans

Brenda Zinyuke, Business Correspondent
MASAKHANE Traders’ Association is organising loans to assist members to resume operations after they lost property worth more than $300 000 in a fire that gutted Unity Village compound in the Central Business District of Bulawayo in August.

Association secretary and spokesperson, Ms Siphokuhle Sibanda, said funds to assist affected stall owners would be made available from members’ monthly contributions.

“We are organising loans for our affected traders ranging from $150 to $500 per member, depending on the extent of damage, in a bid to help them resume business operations,” said Ms Sibanda.

She said the loans would be repaid over one year, and traders would not be charged interest. About 40 stands at Unity Village were engulfed by fire at the end of August, resulting in traders losing property, cash and important documents. The fire has affected more than 20 families who relied on the money made by breadwinners from selling goods such as clothes, footwear, cellphones and laptops at the fleamarket, which was still under renovation at the time of writing this article. Ms Sibanda, whose association bought Unity Village in 1995, said attempts to assist traders to resume business once the flea market was operational were being hampered by the prevailing volatility in the economy. She said: “In as much as we would like to assist our traders, we are also faced with the challenging economy whose exchange rates are fluctuating”.

Zimbabwe abandoned its currency in favour of a multi-currency regime in 2009, but has been hard hit by severe forex shortages and a cash crisis that saw the Government introducing a pseudo-currency analysts say is feeding inflation.

Companies have also been affected by the high cost of money and lack of capital, which Unity Village traders said was the biggest obstacle to resuming operations once the flea market was back in business. Although some traders said they were not aware of Masakhane Traders’ Association’s plans to provide them with loans, they welcomed the move.

“This is something new to my ears, however, it is good news,” said Simelani Dube, a widowed trader.

“All I need is capital to stock and start business operations as I await renovations that are still underway.”