Opportunities and challenges faced by women involved in informal cross-border trade in the city of Mutare during a prolonged economic crisis in Zimbabwe

Bibliographic Data

ID12986348
AuthorsCaroline Manjokoto (Zimbabwe Open University, corresponding author), Dick Ranga (Zimbabwe Open University)
Year2017
Volume13
Issue1
Pages25-39
Publication date2017-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the Indian Ocean Region (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1948-0881 • E-ISSN: 1948-108X
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/19480881.2016.1270558
OpenAlexW2589169831
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited7

This paper assessed the opportunities and challenges faced by women involved in informal cross-border trade (ICBT) in Mutare during a prolonged economic crisis in Zimbabwe. Sixteen women informal cross-border traders were interviewed in depth while two cross-border bus drivers and two customs officials provided key information, which was categorized and discussed along emerging themes. The women were mainly middle-aged single parents who engaged in ICBT for survival. On average, they were educated but forced into ICBT by economic hardships and lack of jobs associated with the closure of industries that started in the late 1990s. Deindustrialization, however, created opportunity for the women to obtain Zimbabwean passports and import clothes, blankets, electrical gadgets and vehicle spare parts from South Africa (SA). Hence, a delay in obtaining the passport which costs US$51 and issued within six months was the women’s first challenge. Desperate to save meager incomes as most Zimbabweans resorted to ICBT, most of them slept in the open while in SA. Local authorities harassed them searching and confiscating undeclared goods. The women’s children suffered as they missed their mothers’ attention, control and love. Instead of helping the women’s businesses flourish, government proposed banning imports to revive Zimbabwe’s industrial sector

Business · Closure (psychology · Clothing · Deindustrialization · Economic growth · Economics · Economy · Government (linguistics · Informal sector · Political science · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Sex work and related issues · Taxation and Compliance Studies

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