26 Jun 2014

In Botswana and many African countries, the atmosphere in markets is always carnival offering lots of goods, services and entertainment.

The Francistown market is no different. Africans have a long history with markets and these have always played a crucial role in commerce even during the era of the barter trade. This is no exception in Botswana where markets are found.

African markets are vibrant, exciting and noisy and these arenas are convenient for consumers who require an assortment of goods in one place without having to travel to different parts of the city or village incurring costs.

Indeed, they are places where buyers and sellers meet. Many people patronise markets for various reasons while some go there to buy needs, others go there to sell produce and catch the latest news and gossip.


The manner of selling goods and services is unique to each business, and buyers and sellers work together, bargaining until a final price for a commodity is reached.

Sophisticated language is used to convince buyers as competition is cut throat with many traders wanting to outdo each other.

It is common to hear traders say, “Tsaa rraetsho, o seka wa mpolaa le wena o seka wa ipolaa,” literally translated to mean, get this product, don’t underpay me and don’t overcharge yourselves.
 Haggling and negotiating the price or terms of a bargain is a common characteristic of African markets.

Because of the domination of small holder agricultural producers in African economies including Botswana, a lot of agricultural products are sold in markets. 


Formal traders in the markets provide people with most things needed to live in societies. Goods sold in markets are not normally packaged and are displayed in the open air or inside market stalls for passers-by to purchase.

Displaying them in the open is deliberate, it’s a marketing strategy to appeal to consumers. The concept of weights and measuring is not that important, however, improvisation with tea cups and used cooking oil gallons is common to measure produce such as beans, maize, groundnuts and seeds.

In most markets, traders are organised and there are committees elected amongst members to be the spokesperson during meetings with authorities.


Some markets in Africa though originally conceived for commercial purposes have managed to attract bad publicity for all the wrong reasons.

Take for instance, the Bakara market in war torn Somalia, created in 1972 to serve as an open market for the sale of goods and services, including produce and clothing.

However, after the start of the civil war in the 1990s, the market control moved from traders and fell into the hands of militia groups who used it as a base for their operations. It later thrived as an arms market where guns were sold which fuelled the civil war.

The Francistown market, however, is far from being compared to Bakara. The last bastion of economic livelihoods for the formal traders in the north, is on the throes of its last breath as the Francistown City Council moves to transform it into an income generating project.

The oldest open air shopping complex for small businesses and one of the most prominent features in the Ghetto landscape is going away, thanks to an agreement between the city council and a private developer entered into in 2003.


The council has promised to move tenants to an alternative location where they can continue with their businesses.   

The market, located along the Blue Jacket Street, has around 55 stalls and has had its fair share of problems with the leaking drainage system which is a health hazard especially in a prime area.

Of late the City of Francistown Council has been on a crusade to transform the country’s second city into an investment hub by the year 2022.

The council’s huge appetite to attract investors has seen it encroaching into the informal trader’s last bastions of economic livelihoods.


As part of this strategy, the authorities have identified environmental management as one of the key areas that needed to be expedited to make the city attractive.

The FCC early in 2014 embarked on an exercise to rid the city centre of the notorious illegal street vendors whom they accused of littering.

These were also blamed for the mushrooming of temporary shelters around the city which made it unattractive to potential suitors who might be interested in establishing their businesses. The city authorities have vowed to crack down on these informal traders until the city was left squeaky clean.

However, this has come at a great economic and social cost to lower and working class families who depend on the street vendors for sustenance.

Many of the informal traders are women who also head households and taking them out of business is likely to have a negative impact on their livelihoods.

The female headed households also provide for members of the extended family both in town and in rural areas and come from low income locations such as Somerset East and West, Monarch, Maaipafela, Blue Town, Donga and Riverside.

It is not uncommon to find one street vendor being a bread winner for more than ten family members who depend on her for everything from food, medical care and education.

During the clean-up campaign, illegal traders’ merchandise was ferried and dumped at the landfill which left most of them empty handed with nothing to sell.


Even before the dust had settled after the clean-up, the city council is at it again and this time it has gone for the jugular by targeting formal traders at the infamous Francistown Central market, a typical African market which has been thriving for many years providing customers with an assortment of products.

Here you can find anything from cooked food, television and radio repairs stalls, vendors who trade in seeds, tailors and tinsmiths.

This market is famed for a long time with the preparation and consumption of African traditional dishes which have disappeared from most households especially in urban settings.
 In the midst of this, it is not uncommon to be treated to the loud music blasting from radios and stereos already repaired.

Also, this area has a large concentration of cobblers and seamstresses working in front of stalls. Customers come here to collect their wares and leave immediately throughout the day. The area is conspicuous for the absence of any seating place for clients despite servicing a large population that patronize it on a daily basis.

These vendors unlike those in the city centre occupy council stalls which they rent every month for a small fee. They are also organised and are trading legally.

However, these traders have been warned that very soon they would have to vacate the rented stall as the council had leased the Francistown market to a private developer as a way of raising revenue for the local authority.

The developer, the Francistown mayor, Mr James Kgalajwe recently noted in an interview, has been very patient and gave them enough time to find alternative space for those who have been operating from the market.

Even the town clerk, Lebuile Israel explained that they have to move traders out to enable the developer to begin work. For many years, the council had been complaining that since the recession they had been given less money than they needed by their parent ministry, hence wanted to engage in new ways of raising their own revenue without depending solely on the government grant.

Initially, the council had promised to find a proper place where all traders could be housed and the horticultural market next to the fire station had been identified as one of the areas.

However, this hit a snag as the Botswana Horticultural Market has announced plans to utilise the place for horticulture farmers. Currently, two proposed locations have been identified at Blue Town, Block 2 and the bus rank. The history of the market is also littered with non-compliance by occupiers of market stalls who have consistently failed to pay rent.

According to records, the City of Francistown council built market stalls as a means of generating income and payments by occupiers were to be done on a monthly basis. However, it had been observed that market occupants had not satisfactorily paid for market stalls.

The non-payment has also been attributed to inadequate monitoring of payments by council officials. A representative of the formal traders, Ms Belina Sekepe is however, hopeful to meet with the new developer so that they can continue operating at the market as its closer to their customers.

Moving them out of town, she noted, would take them out of business. While welcoming the new developments to the city, she said that these should also incorporate areas where formal traders can continue to service their clientele and provide for their families. ENDS