By Wongani Mkandawire

Nkhotakota, April 22, Mana: Playing trade at Lozi Trading Centre in the area of Traditional Authority Mwadzama, 10 kilometres North of Nkhotakota Boma, has not only been an awful experience during the rainy season but also a deadly activity as business activities are carried out in the edges of the all-time tied-up M5 Road.

Accommodating over 400 vendors, the market continues to welcome several people from different parts of Nkhotakota and surrounding districts, who are establishing diverse forms of business, all responding positively due to Lozi’s geographical and economic opportunities.

Mumuniya Suwedi, who sells tomatoes at the market, said that due to the lack of a proper market facility, he has been operating under the scorching sun and along the road due to lack of space, a situation he said poses a challenge to his sales, quality, and life span of his tomatoes.

“Lack of proper market facility and space has been a great barrier to my business as you know that tomatoes are highly perishable and lose quality quickly. Operating without a permanent place in this market is a challenge and has contributed to the diminishing status of my business,” Suwedi laments.

Chairperson of Lozi Market, Chinkhwazala Mndota, echoes Suwedi’s sentiments adding that it has always been a difficult scenario to collect revenue from vendors at the market as most of them were operating without sheltered benches.

“It has been very hard as chairperson to encourage vendors to be paying a daily market levy because of the situation here. Most vendors including fresh fish traders have been complaining of consistent losses as a result of unfavourable business environment at the market site,” Mndota says.

However, a sigh of relief has emerged following the completion of construction works of a K26.9 million modern market shed at Lozi Trading Centre by the Nkhotakota District Council under the District Development Fund (DDF).

The council received funds from the government of Malawi for the implementation of earmarked developmental projects in the district.

Nkhotakota District Council's Director of Planning and Development, Davis Kavalo, expresses optimism that the completion of the project will bolster economic activities at the market.

“We have finalized everything at the site and handed over the facility to the vendors for the operations to commence. We expect that business activities are going to improve and contribute to economic growth among the small-scale business persons,” says Kavalo.

The Government of Malawi funds local councils to assist them in the development of required infrastructures at the district level to enhance public responsiveness and service delivery to communities.