Economic Cost of Discrimination

Mbare Musika MarketPlace

Zimbabwe’s economy still lives on the side hustle. The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce puts the informal sector at roughly 64 per cent of Zimbabwe’s GDP, worth about US $42 billion. Street vendors fill night stalls lit by phone torches and more than two million Facebook users now browse Marketplace posts for gadgets, spare parts, clothes and other commodities. According to a 2021 GALZ Needs Assessment, only four in ten LGBT respondents had formal jobs, so many have joined the digital hustle. Tendai, a lesbian in Bulawayo, sells erotic toys through a pseudonymous Marketplace page and meets buyers at a petrol station rather than risk harassment at a regular stall. Others run pop-up craft booths at weekend flea markets or take orders in invite-only WhatsApp groups.

The Government tried to pull those traders into the mainstream with National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1). The plan, launched in 2021, promised more formal jobs, steadier prices and wider social protection by 2025. Mid-term reviews show some new roads and irrigation schemes but little headway on employment or debt and the currency is still volatile. Consultations for NDS 2 began in June 2025. Officials again talk of growth and stability, yet early drafts lean heavily on big infrastructure and say little about the paperwork, start-up fees and prejudice that keep micro-businesses off the tax roll.

That gap is expensive. Research by economists such as M. V. Lee Badgett have revealed that economic discrimination of LGBTI people in any given country can result in a loss of about one per cent of a nation’s GDP. In Zimbabwe’s case, this translates to about US $440 in losses, which is more than the combined budgets of the health and higher-education ministries. FinScope’s 2022 MSME survey found that nine out of ten micro-enterprises were unregistered. Each untaxed sale on Marketplace or at Mbare’s market is revenue Treasury will never recover. Tourism shows a concrete loss: a Victoria Falls safari lodge recently forfeited a booking from fourteen Canadian travellers who switched to South Africa after reading reviews of safety warnings for LGBT visitors, costing the operator nearly US $30 000 in one weekend.

If NDS 2 hopes to hit Vision 2030’s upper-middle-income target, the fixes must be specific and inclusive. An enforceable equal-opportunity, non-discriminatory law would let people like Tendai register openly and hire staff. A one-page e-licence delivered over WhatsApp, with a tiny turnover-based tax, would bring thousands of hustlers onto Zimbabwe Revenue Authority’s (ZIMRA) books without drowning them in forms. Allowing banks to open low-fee accounts under trading names while keeping verified IDs confidential would give vulnerable sellers a safe way to save and borrow. Finally, a tourism campaign that signals genuine safety for all visitors could win back high-spend LGBTI travellers.

Dropping discrimination is not just the right thing; it is a straightforward way to plug hundreds of millions of dollars in annual losses and turn today’s informal hustle into Zimbabwe’s formal growth.