With a steep six-fold steep hike in revenue collections compared to $7.1 million collected the preceding year, the Harare City Council received over $42 million from the informal sector in 2020.
A recent report from the Small to Medium Enterprises committee show that the revenue collections could have been more, but Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions like multiple lockdowns, business closure and curfews adversely impacted businesses across the city.
The Government declared a Covid-19 induced lockdown on March 27, 2020 resulting in the closure of businesses, except for essential services.
“On April 7, 2020, the Government had reviewed the lockdown regulations on essential services including Small to Medium Enterprises sector (food markets) with the aim of enhancing food supply in the country,” said the committee.
During the year under review, revenue collection increased remarkably from $7,118,285 in the year 2019 to $42,401,012 in 2020 representing a 495.66 percent improvement.
