AFTER the sun sets in Harare, the streets of Zimbabwe’s capital suddenly burst to life.
Carts, cars and trucks turned into makeshift, unauthorised, shops sell anything from potatoes to babies’ nappies on the pavements of the city centre.
Shopping is best done at night in times of hyperinflation and economic hardship.
Cash-crunched Zimbabweans are increasingly turning to informal vendors for their groceries shopping as, with little or no overheads, street hawkers can afford to undercut big supermarkets.
“Everything is always cheaper outside,” Blessing Steven, 23, a taxi driver, says, buying a bottle of juice for $0.50 at a roadside stall rather than in a supermarket where it costs $1. “I save money.”
The juice vendor, Shingirirai Goriondo, 23, claims that he gets more customers than the retail outlet he operates in front of.
“All beverages I sell here are being charged double there,” he said, pointing to a branch of supermarket chain Foodworld.
Inflation has shot through the roof in recent weeks as Zimbabwe prepares for presidential and parliamentary elections expected in August.
Officially standing at more than 280 percent in April, analysts estimate the inflation rate is in fact somewhere over 700 percent.
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