ZAMBIA-ZIMBABWE: Knocking on doors in desperation

Photo: IRIN

A mother and daughter trying to make a living through cross-border trade

SIAVONGA, 23 August 2006 (IRIN) - Every day, Tracey Zulu walks from Zimbabwe into Zambia and sets up a stall selling baking powder, nuts, tomato sauce sachets and biscuits. On a good day she can make a US$2 profit; on a bad day she makes nothing at all.

Her economic decline mirrors Zimbabwe's. "Once, I had a powerful business selling expensive duvets, blankets and clothes," the 48-year-old mother of four said. "Everything is gone and I can't even have a decent meal."
Zimbabwe's economy is in free-fall: inflation is hovering at around an annual rate of 1,000 percent and unemployment levels are more than 70 percent.

As a result, cross-border traffic has risen dramatically, from about 40 vehicles and 30-odd people a day, said a Zambian immigration official, to more than 300 small traders and 200 vehicles.

The Zimbabwean government tries to discourage this by introducing specific regulations. Zimbabwean traders are limited at the Kariba border post to carrying only US$10 worth of customs-free goods, in contrast to the international norm of US$250.

On the Zimbabwean side of the border, soldiers search traders to make them abide by the letter of the law. "If I carried more goods, I would have to declare them at the border with proof of receipts," Zulu said.

This keeps her profit margins negligible. "Because of limiting the cash flow, two of my children have now stopped going to school because I can't raise enough money to pay for their fees," she said.

Sometimes traders increase their earnings by smuggling alcohol, but "Zimbabwe alcohol is very strong and when our people begin to consume it, cases of violence and thefts begin to rise in Siavonga", a Zambia Revenue Authority official said. Zambia taxes Zimbabwean alcohol heavily.

In Siavonga, traders knock on people's doors, their desperation further eroding their already puny profits. "They will keep on begging me to buy and reducing the price further," said Milimo Mudenda, a Zambian government worker.

Zimbabwe's economic meltdown has changed the flow of people across the border. In the past, it used to be Zambians who bought cheap groceries in Zimbabwe. Now, Zimbabweans go to Zambia to buy basics such as detergents, cooking oil and salt.

"We also buy anti-malaria tablets from the chemists here, because in Zimbabwe we must have a doctor's prescription to buy any medicine," Zulu said.

nm/go/he/cb