BY LORRAINE MUROMO/ VANESSA GONYE/ PRAISEMORE SITHOLE CROSS-border traders yesterday called on government to urgently reopen the country’s borders to enable the more that 90% of the population in the informal to restart their lives following a long COVID-19-induced lockdown. The call follows the easing of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions by President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday, where he opened up the informal sector but was mum on the opening up of the country’s borders. Cross-Border Traders Association of Zimbabwe leader Killer Zivhu told NewsDay that the continued closure of borders would severely affect the livelihoods of his members who constitute 90% of the population who make up the informal sector . “As long as the country’s borders are closed, the economy remains at a standstill and the easing of lockdown restrictions becomes meaningless,” Zivhu said. Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association director Michael Ndiweni said: “We are concerned that the border is still closed, and particularly it will affect the livelihoods of cross-border traders. They are still affected. What it means is that people will continue to use the illegal ways to buy groceries and smuggle them from other countries. “These people who cross illegally are not tested for COVID-19 and they will end up bringing the virus into the country. We call upon the authorities to put mechanisms that will ensure that the borders get opened up so that people can come in and get tested.” Ndiweni said government must also financially cushion informal traders. “Most of them have not been working for a while now, so they will struggle to start their businesses. They need a cushioning allowance to bridge the disruptions of their businesses caused by the lengthy lockdown period,” he said. Recently, informal traders in Bulawayo rapped the Bulawayo City Council for taking too long to license their vending stalls to enable them to resume their operations. According to the Vendors Association of Zimbabwe, studies have shown that around 50% of the informal businesses are owner-run, with the other 50% staffed by employees. Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers (CZR) president Denford Mutashu said the announcement by Mnangagwa that exemption letters were no longer required was a great move towards ensuring that small and medium enterprises and the informal sector began their business operations. “CZR is of the strong view that this will play a significant role in injecting life into various businesses. Reopening of bottlestores serving only takeaways is sweet news to imbibers, and it is very strategic in serving operations of breweries and the more than 20 000 bottlestores across the country whose employees were getting retrenched,” Mutashu said in a statement. He said there was need to operationalise a stimulus package for the informal sector and SMEs so that they can resuscitate their businesses..