industry news & thought leadership

Using a small-area census approach, this article reports on changes in informal micro-enterprise activity in the Cape township of Delft between 2010 and 2015. The number of micro-enterprises has doubled (from 879 to 1798) in five years, with growth recorded in almost...

A survey on the operations of spaza shops in Soweto  revealed  migrants’  eccentric  business strategies and resilience dynamics. Trynos Gumbo and Simamkele Bokolo analyse the results. Almost all urban centres of the world are experiencing soaring informal economic...

It is useful to understand how spaza shops have developed in South Africa. “‘Spaza’ means ‘hidden’ in Zulu.  The term arose during the apartheid era, when restrictions were placed on black people running businesses” (Bear, 2005). During the apartheid era, many of...

Cape Town - The rapid increase in the middle class in South Africa and population growth in the last two decades were among the factors that led to substantial growth of the informal or independent retail trade sector. The sector boasts R46 billion in annual sales,...

Using a small-area census approach, this article reports on changes in informal micro-enterprise activity in the Cape township of Delft between 2010 and 2015. The number of micro-enterprises has doubled (from 879 to 1798) in five years, with growth recorded in almost...

Using a small-area census approach, this article reports on changes in informal micro-enterprise activity in the Cape township of Delft between 2010 and 2015. The number of micro-enterprises has doubled (from 879 to 1798) in five years, with growth recorded in almost...

5M2T started out as a distribution model that helped commercial brands reach South Africa’s lucrative spaza shop and informal trade sector. After engaging with brands making use of its distribution model, 5M2T identified a need for more focused data and analysis on...

Extensive research by several organisations on how foreign-owned spaza shops are run provides a great deal of insight, although I’ll admit the picture is not always complete and, at times, contradictory. The nonprofit organisation Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation is...

South Africa’s largest market is its most misunderstood market. It’s a market that has been largely ignored, one dubbed ‘the same as any other’. But that is untrue. In fact, the market is a “mass of opportunity”. Professor John Simpson, unleashing the UCT’s Unilever...