From Market Stalls to Modern Hubs: Tanzanian Traders Reclaim Their Place in the Economy
Kariokoo Traders in Tanzania
Introduction
The streets of Kariakoo in Dar es Salaam are alive with colour, noise and constant negotiation. Traders shout out prices, customers weave through narrow alleys, and the aroma of spices, street food, and imported goods fills the air. For decades, these workers have powered Tanzania’s informal economy, building livelihoods without the recognition or infrastructure that formal businesses enjoy.
That is why President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s decision to honour two traders’ associations: the Tanzania Business Community (JWT) and the Kariakoo Business Community (JWK), was not simply symbolic. It was an acknowledgement that workers at the heart of Tanzania’s bustling markets are central to the nation’s future. And it was a reminder that informal labour, often ignored in policy spaces, can no longer be sidelined.
Kariakoo: A Labour Engine of the Informal Economy
Kariakoo has long been the beating heart of Tanzanian trade. Generations of workers have transformed the district into one of East Africa’s busiest wholesale and retail centres. It is estimated that over 200,000 traders and vendors are linked to Kariakoo, with ripple effects that extend across the country’s borders into Malawi, Zambia, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Yet for all its economic significance, Kariakoo’s traders have faced chronic neglect. Unreliable infrastructure, overcrowding, lack of sanitation and periodic fires have devastated livelihoods. Government redevelopment projects often favoured real estate speculation over the workers who sustain the area. For many vendors, modernisation became a threat to displacement rather than a promise of dignity.
When the East Africa Commercial and Logistics Centre (EACLC) was launched in Ubungo, fears spread that Kariakoo would be abandoned. But the state’s decision to honour JWT and JWK signalled a different approach: rather than replacing the old with the new, President Samia emphasised partnership. “This Ubungo business hub is not a competitor to Kariakoo, it is a partner… a space for mutual learning and shared growth,” she declared.
This recognition represents more than rhetoric. It reaffirms the workers’ role as architects of growth, not mere bystanders to policy.
Informal Workers as Proto-Unions
The Tanzania Business Community and the Kariakoo Business Community are not unions in the traditional sense. They are associations formed to protect members’ interests in the informal sector. Yet, in practice, they operate with similar functions: collective voice, negotiation power, and solidarity in the face of authority.
Godfrey Mtei, JWT Kinondoni Chair, described the day of recognition as “a blessed and exceptional day for our communities.” His words capture how critical visibility is for workers often relegated to the periphery of the economy. For informal traders, who survive without labour protections, pensions or even healthcare benefits, collective organisation is the only shield against precarity.
Across the continent, similar formations have emerged. Ghana’s Makola Market Women Association, South Africa’s street vendors organised through the South African Informal Traders Alliance (SAITA), and Kenya’s boda boda riders’ associations are all examples of informal workers building collective structures. They may not always carry the name “union,” but they embody union principles: voice, agency and solidarity.
The recognition of JWT and JWK shows how such bodies can claim space in national development. For African labour movements, this is a reminder that the lines between “formal” and “informal” organising are increasingly blurred.
Labour, State, and Power Relations
Behind the honouring of traders lies a deeper question: who controls the terms of economic development? In many African countries, modernisation has been driven by elites, foreign investors, and multinational corporations, often at the expense of workers. Markets are cleared for shopping malls, informal transport banned for highways, and small-scale farmers displaced for large agribusiness projects.
In Tanzania, President Samia’s approach reflects a nuanced class compromise. On one hand, she seeks to modernise trade infrastructure and attract investment, as evidenced by the Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair in 2024 that brought in nearly 3,500 companies. On the other hand, she is mindful of the political risks of alienating the country’s massive informal workforce.
By placing Kariakoo and JWT on stage, the state is signalling inclusivity. But workers know recognition can be fragile. Across Africa, there is a history of co-optation, where states elevate unions or associations for legitimacy while diluting their capacity for independent struggle. For Tanzanian traders, the challenge is to use this moment not as an endpoint, but as leverage to demand real improvements: safer markets, stronger infrastructure, and labour protections that extend to the informal sector.
Lessons for the Continental Labour Movement
The Tanzanian story holds lessons beyond its borders.
First, it underscores the strategic importance of informal labour. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), nearly 85 percent of employment in Africa is informal. If unions confine themselves to formal wage labour, they risk irrelevance to the majority. Embracing traders, vendors, domestic workers and ride-hailing drivers is not optional,it is essential for union renewal.
Second, it highlights the importance of framing workers as co-creators of development. Too often, African governments portray informal workers as a nuisance to be “formalised” out of existence. Tanzania’s gesture shows another path: acknowledge their contribution, invite them into dialogue, and design modernisation that complements rather than displaces.
Finally, it reminds us that solidarity travels across borders. When Tanzanian traders gain recognition, it strengthens the hand of informal workers everywhere who are fighting for visibility. Whether it is Nigeria’s market unions pushing for better security or Ugandan street vendors resisting evictions, these struggles are linked by a common theme: dignity in labour.
Linking with Other Struggles
The vibrancy of Kariakoo is not only an economic story, it is also a social one. Women dominate market trading, balancing childcare with long days of hustling in crowded stalls. Youth, too, find their first jobs in informal vending, learning survival tactics in economies where formal employment is scarce. Climate struggles also intersect: heavy rains and floods increasingly damage markets, underscoring the vulnerability of workers to environmental shocks.
Connecting these struggles matters. Feminist movements that champion women traders, youth collectives that fight unemployment, and climate activists demanding resilient infrastructure are natural allies. The recognition of JWT and JWK provides an opening to forge these alliances, transforming market recognition into a broader movement for just and inclusive development.
Conclusion: Workers Write the Next Chapter
The story of Kariakoo and Ubungo is not about buildings or trade fairs, it is about people. Workers who rise before dawn to set up stalls, mothers who balance accounts while cooking at the roadside, and young men carrying goods through congested markets. Their labour sustains Tanzania’s economy, and now, slowly, they are being acknowledged.
The honouring of JWT and JWK is a victory, but also a reminder: recognition must translate into material change. Traders need infrastructure that works, healthcare that protects, and policies that value their labour. If Tanzania succeeds, it will demonstrate a model for Africa; an economy that grows not by pushing workers aside, but by lifting them up.
In this moment, the power balance is shifting. Workers are not waiting for development to arrive from above; they are insisting on shaping it from below. That is the deeper story, and it is one the entire African labour movement should take note of.
References
Daily News, “Samia honours two trade unions for spearheading business growth” Link