THE Bulawayo City Council has resolved to pursue a partnership with the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) to develop formal infrastructure for informal traders at the Bhaktas site along Lobengula Street and 2nd Avenue.
The decision, based on a report tabled by the townlands and planning department on June 10, 2026, followed an expression of interest from IDBZ aimed at upgrading facilities for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The proposal was initially reviewed by an interdepartmental committee convened by the city economic development officer, which recommended that it be processed through council committee structures before referral to the Ministry of Local Government and the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency.
The Bhaktas site development is the latest in a series of attempts by the local authority to manage the explosive growth of street vending in Bulawayo’s central business district (CBD).
With formal employment options shrinking, the informal sector has become the primary source of income for hundreds of thousands of urban citizens.
Council’s report acknowledged that the informal sector has evolved from a marginal activity into a "major pillar of the economy," particularly following Zimbabwe's prolonged industrial decline and wave of large-scale retrenchments.
“Retrenchments in the major industrial establishments resulted in people being involved in the informal economy for survival purposes,” the report read.
The city centre now hosts the highest concentration of informal traders, drawing vendors not only from Bulawayo's high-density suburbs but also from other provinces.
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By December 2025, council had allocated formal trading bays to 4 488 informal traders within the CBD with over 4 000 operating along 5th Avenue alone.
However, these numbers continue to swell, putting immense pressure on available space and leading to the proliferation of undesignated vending spots.
“In an effort to address the challenges of operational space, the Local Authority had identified and continued to identify sites where MSMEs could be accommodated,” the report read.
Among the sites identified is the Bhaktas area along Lobengula Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue.
However, an earlier attempt to develop the site through a competitive tender process during the 2025 financial year failed after no successful bidders emerged.
