STAFF WRITER
The Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) is calling on local authorities to stop treating street vendors as a nuisance and instead integrate them into the formal economy.
In a statement issued on 11 September, SPYL secretary Ephraim Nekongo said informal traders play an important role in supporting households and driving economic activity, particularly at a time of high unemployment and rising living costs.
“Street vendors and informal traders must therefore not be viewed as a nuisance to urban development, but as economic actors and entrepreneurs,” Nekongo said.
He said informal trading contributes to local economic development, employment creation and household income while keeping money circulating within communities.
The youth league wants municipalities and town councils to develop properly serviced trading areas where vendors can operate legally while remaining close to customers.
It said these areas should provide shelter, clean water, sanitation, waste management, electricity, storage, security and safe pedestrian access.
SPYL also wants local authorities to simplify vendor registration and permit systems and introduce digital registration and payment platforms.
Nekongo said such systems could make licensing easier while giving municipalities better information about the informal economy.
The organisation is also calling for stronger links between local authorities, government institutions, financial institutions and development agencies to help informal traders access entrepreneurship training, financial literacy, microfinance and digital payment systems.
It said young people should particularly be supported to move from survivalist businesses to sustainable enterprises capable of creating jobs.
Social entrepreneur, business columnist, and founder and director of SMEs Compete, Danny Meyer, told Namibia Business Review on Monday that local authorities should allocate more resources to local economic development (LED) officers and staff.
“Local authorities should see the wisdom of allocating resources for LED officers and staff to expand and intensify the support programmes,” Meyer said.
He said the programmes should aim to help informal businesses “migrate or graduate to become formally registered businesses”.
Meyer said the support should also “empower and position MSMEs for growth”.
“In summary, the Youth League’s plea should be given the serious consideration it deserves,” he said.
The call comes as Namibia Business Review earlier this year tracked down the hardships faced by street vendors in Windhoek.
At 06:00, Fransina Titus, 42, leaves her home in Goreangab and heads to the streets of Windhoek.
She works until 18:00, standing for hours and watching the road, hoping customers will stop and buy water, sweets or snacks from her.
“I was motivated by poverty,” Titus said.
Since October 2025, selling sweets, water and snacks has been Titus’ only source of income.
She earns between N$500 and N$600 a week, money she says is hard-earned but not enough to meet her needs.
Her biggest challenge is enforcement.
“The City Police sometimes chase us away because we are not allowed to sell on roads,” Titus said.
She said customers often complain that goods sold by street traders are expensive, but few understand the reality behind survival.
Designated trading areas are also not an easy option.
“Designated selling areas are already full and expensive,” she said.
Another street hawker, Jacob Enok, starts his day even earlier.
At 05:30, he is already on the streets selling snacks and drinks. He returns home at about 16:30.
He has followed this routine since 2020.
“My children motivate me,” Enok said.
Street trading is how he supports his family. He earns about N$500 a week, which he says barely sustains his household.
Like Titus, enforcement remains his biggest struggle.
“We are chased away by the City Police. I plead with people to support me and buy my things so I am able to earn a living,” he said.
POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT
Rinaani Musutua of the Basic Income Grant Coalition of Namibia said the growth of street trading is linked to Namibia’s broader socio-economic problems.
She pointed to Namibia’s 50% unemployment rate, which she described as the highest in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
She said the lack of formal employment is “forcing individuals to engage in street vending at unsolicited locations as a desperate means of survival”.
Musutua described this as “survival anxiety”.
She proposed a Universal Basic Income Grant of N$500 per person per month for Namibians aged 0 to 59, saying it could help subsidise basic necessities and reduce the pressure on households.
She also pointed to Namibia’s mineral wealth and fishing grounds.
“Despite being a rich nation… many Namibians remain in abject poverty,” Musutua said.
She argued that the country could afford such a grant by leveraging its natural resources.
Musutua also criticised the enforcement of trading regulations, saying City Police sometimes use excessive force against traders trying to feed their families.
She said vendors should be given time to leave unauthorised areas instead of facing immediate arrest.
She said government policies must reflect people’s realities and ensure that every citizen has “something to eat at the end of the day”.
As long as poverty, inequality and unemployment remain high, Musutua said, street vending would remain part of Namibian life.
REGULATIONS
City of Windhoek spokesperson Harold Akwenye earlier this year told Namibia Business Review that informal and roadside trading reflects broader economic pressures, including unemployment and urban migration.
He said the City manages street trading through its municipal police, economic development and planning divisions, guided by existing by-laws and council-approved frameworks.
Akwenye said enforcement focuses on public safety, traffic flow and sanitation.
“Where traders operate in restricted or unsafe areas, officials first engage through education and compliance notices, with enforcement applied where non-compliance persists, especially in high-risk areas such as road reserves and busy intersections,” he said.
On fines, Akwenye said penalties are issued under municipal by-laws and vary depending on the offence, repeat violations and location.
He said fines are intended as deterrents rather than punitive measures and are applied with due process.
The City, he said, recognises informal trading as an important survival mechanism and is working on longer-term solutions.
“These include identifying and formalising trading areas, integrating traders into local economic development planning, reviewing trading frameworks and exploring partnerships that allow traders to transition into more secure and regulated environments,” Akwenye said.
‘PEOPLE STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE’
Labour researcher and social justice activist Herbert Jauch said the increase in street trading is directly linked to unemployment.
“The increase is not surprising, people struggle to survive,” Jauch said.
He said people without income, unemployment insurance or a basic income plan are forced to do whatever they can to survive.
“Street traders face restrictions on where they are allowed to operate and often feel pushed into certain areas,” he said.
Jauch said authorities should sit down with trader representatives to discuss and negotiate possible solutions.
He said this could help create a city that is more accommodating to informal traders.
FROM INFORMAL TRADE TO SMEs
SPYL said local authorities should move away from an enforcement-centred approach towards the integration, formalisation and modernisation of informal trading.
It said vendors operating in prohibited areas should, where possible, be given alternative trading spaces and sufficient notice before being removed.
“Confiscation and destruction of goods should never become the default method of regulating informal economic activity,” Nekongo said.
The youth league said goods such as food and clothing often represent the limited business capital of informal traders.
“Destroying those goods can mean destroying an entire household’s source of income,” Nekongo said.
SPYL is also proposing permanent consultative forums involving municipalities, vendors’ representatives, youth organisations and other stakeholders.
The forums would discuss trading spaces, sanitation, licensing, safety, infrastructure and compliance.
The organisation said Namibia’s urban development should create a pathway for informal businesses to grow into sustainable micro, small and medium enterprises.
“The objective should not be to remove informal traders from our towns, but to organise, support and progressively modernise informal trading,” Nekongo said.
He said the approach would support employment creation, municipal revenue, entrepreneurship and broader economic development.
The SPYL linked its proposal to the SWAPO Party Election Manifesto 2025–2030 and the Sixth National Development Plan, which prioritise economic growth, employment creation, youth empowerment and small business development.
“We must regulate without destroying livelihoods, modernise without excluding our people, and build towns and cities in which every hardworking Namibian has an opportunity to participate in the economy,” Nekongo said
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