By: Justicia Shipena
Informal traders have voiced concerns over their constrained ability to negotiate prices and other regulatory matters affecting their businesses.
This limited bargaining power to negotiate prices with suppliers and regulators, negatively affects business in the informal sector as traders are left to shoulder unilateral bulk pricing decisions from suppliers, hindering their prospects for success.
Joel Shingenivali, the Secretary General of the Namibia Informal Traders Union, expressed these concerns during a meeting with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economics and Public Administration.
“Informal traders lack a say when it comes to pricing and other regulatory matters affecting their businesses,” he said.
He highlighted the vulnerability of informal traders to exploitation by suppliers, noting that suppliers often inflate prices substantially when they realise they are dealing with bulk buyers. Shingenivali also drew the attention of the Standing Committee to the issue of inadequate trading space for informal traders in the country.
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