Urban markets in Harare
Urban markets are at the centre of life in Harare, providing livelihoods to thousands of people, supplying affordable goods and anchoring the city’s informal economy. Action research in the city so far has looked at improving infrastructure and strengthening trader capacity in the Glen View 8 Furniture Complex (GV8FC). The Pundutso Urban Markets Project (PUMP) is building on learnings from this initiative to support further market improvements across Harare, through creating institutional space for traders and the City of Harare to collaborate meaningfully.
In this blog miniseries looking at urban markets in Harare, the first post explores the City of Harare’s receding role in urban markets, the second outlines priority actions for tackling fire risks in markets, the third takes a closer look at market sanitation, and this fourth one reflects on contested market governance.
By Tapiwa Nyamukapa, Hazel Musvovi and Kudzai Chatiza
Key takeaways
- Policy reform has improved institutional recognition of markets, but operational bottlenecks, especially around maintenance and procurement, continue to undermine service delivery.
- A clear disconnect exists between traders and the City, with limited mechanisms for collaboration on small-scale infrastructure management, despite traders’ willingness to contribute resources.
- Emerging financial innovations, such as the City Micro Finance Bank, offer new opportunities, but their impact will depend on inclusive governance and effective integration with market management systems that clearly build trader trust in the City and its various governance instruments.
Dialogue on Shelter (DoS) and the Development Governance Institute (DGI) are collaborating on the Pundusto urban markets project, which is looking at inclusive land tenure and infrastructure financing, implemented under ACRC in Harare.
The action research focuses on selected markets in Harare, examining land and infrastructure tenure, governance arrangements and policy options to support inclusive and productive urban markets. This blog post reflects on insights from a preparatory meeting with the City of Harare’s Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Division.
The engagement took place amid persistent tensions over market governance. While the City of Harare frames markets as municipal assets subject to City policy and administrative authority, traders increasingly treat them as autonomous economic spaces. This unresolved contestation shapes how policy is interpreted, resisted and implemented on the ground.
SME and decentralisation policies
In 2023, the City of Harare adopted a small and medium enterprises (SME) policy in response to the rapid growth of informal economic activity. The policy provides a formal framework for managing markets and supporting SMEs, including upgrading the former markets unit into a dedicated SME Division. At the same time, city-scale decentralising of administration into five regions was beginning.
These policy and operational reforms are intended to bring decision making and key personnel closer to communities. However, while decentralisation has expanded institutional presence, it has not yet resolved limits to the City’s effective reach within markets.
Infrastructure, trader fees and maintenance
The City is responsible for infrastructure across approximately 60 markets and for ensuring that trading environments meet relevant standards of safety and adequacy. Formal traders pay a monthly licence fee of between USD 10 and USD 25, creating expectations of basic services. Yet these revenues are not readily available for routine maintenance, due to municipal and national procurement requirements, resulting in persistent delays, particularly for minor repairs.
Trader committees and governance tensions
These operational challenges reflect deeper governance tensions, rather than simple capacity gaps. Although the SME policy provides for market management committees, relationships between traders and the City are marked by selective engagement. Traders often mobilise personal resources to maintain facilities but are constrained by rules that prohibit them from intervening in municipally owned infrastructure.
In the absence of formal co‑management protocols, markets operate in a “governance vacuum”, where responsibility is shared in practice but not recognised institutionally or mobilised predictably. The structural governance gaps have constrained delivery of everyday market service needs as well as medium- to long-term infrastructure and workspace management and expansion.
City Micro Finance Bank
The City of Harare has initiated establishment of a City Micro Finance Bank, through which market revenues will be channelled and affiliated traders may access credit. Beyond financing, the bank represents an attempt to re‑anchor markets within municipal governance through financial mechanisms. This raises the prospects of addressing questions on revenue ringfencing, trader inclusion, accountability and appropriate decisionmaking relating to SME support.
Policy pathways to explore
Overall, recent reforms signal a shift towards recognising markets as central economic and employment nodes. However, policy effectiveness continues to be shaped by competing claims over authority and control.
Building on earlier ACRC investments, the next phase of research seeks to strengthen traders’ voice by testing governance and financing arrangements that reconcile municipal responsibility with trader agency. Without negotiated frameworks, the risk is that Harare’s markets remain sites of policy friction rather than inclusive and productive engines of urban economic transformation. As data gathering and analysis progress, it will be critical to explore the viability of the following pathways:
1. Introduction of formal co-management protocols that allow traders and the City to jointly address minor maintenance issues, with clear rules on accountability and cost-sharing.
2. Streamlining procurement procedures for routine market maintenance, including thresholds below which simplified processes can be applied.
3. Strengthening trader organisations and representation, enabling more effective engagement with decentralised City structures and financial institutions supporting market development.
Photo credits: Development Governance Institute
Note: This article presents the views of the authors featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.
Author acknowledgement: This blog draws on ACRC‑supported work but does not represent the views of the consortium or its funder, FCDO (United Kingdom).
Generative AI statement: Copilot was used to process research notes and relevant literature to help prepare an initial draft of this blog post. This draft was then extensively edited by the communications team and approved by the author of the article.
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