Informal Sector Panacea to the High Unemployment in Zimbabwe Case of Informal Sector Enterprises of Harare Metropolitan
The study examined the capabilities of the informal sector enterprises in Harare Metropolitan to create sustainable employment. The investigation relied extensively on qualitative research since we recognised that we did not intend to take a neutral or objective stand but rather a stand in favour of the informal sector or not and what it offered to the economy. The study found that a majority of the informal sector enterprises were independent and self employed entrepreneurs with no employees and micro enterprises that employed 1 5 workers. Although the informal sector was the fastest growing sector and the largest employer in the country, lack of recognition; low levels of organisation and poor coordination; lack of infrastructure and technology, inadequate financing, lack of access to markets and inadequate assistance from the government hindered the small enterprises from attaining their full potential. The jobs in the informal economy were merely survivalist and were characterised by subsistence activities and the businesses were short term and transitory in nature. The high unemployment in the country should be met with decent jobs and not with a job at any price. The informal sector could not provide the solution to the national under and/or unemployment. Instead, the government should provide conducive macroeconomic, social, legal and political frameworks for the large scale creation of sustainable and decent jobs by well established business enterprises, both foreign and domestic. In this regard, the government needed to refrain from business interference and where necessary repeal certain provisions of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act that scared away investors.