By Africanews with AP People in Zimbabwe are shunning traditional grocery stores to do their shopping at informal and illegal markets that pop up at night to avoid police raids that are rampant during the day. The government had hoped the introduction of a new currency in April would resolve a long running money crisis that has seen the southern African countries introduce six currencies so far. But it is now depreciating and hurting licensed stores that are forced by law to accept it.
Unregulated informal traders meanwhile charge their goods exclusively in the more stable dollar to make their prices significantly lower. As the new currency volatility pushes prices up, the traditional stores face collapse, economists say. But from dusk, sidewalks, store or office verandahs and car parking spaces burst into unorthodox open-air bazaars, offering anything from groceries to fresh meat, electronics, clothes, medicines, fashion accessories and stationery.
Unfettered by expenses such as rising energy costs, taxes and laws that force formal retailers to accept the local currency at artificially low official exchange rates, informal traders, including children, offer better bargains. A box of juice that sells for $3 in a supermarket costs half the price on the street. “It’s really affordable," says 30-year-old shopper Batsirai Pabwe, expressing relief at managing to fill a plastic bag with items for just $20.
Street vendor Oswald Gari only works at night once the police leave but .