About us

The Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation (VISET) was founded in 2015 to respond to the urgent needs of informal economy workers in Zimbabwe. Recognizing the struggles faced by vendors and informal traders, who are often marginalized and lack essential protections, VISET emerged as a platform dedicated to advocating for their rights, enhancing their skills, and fostering economic resilience.

From humble beginnings as a small union of informal traders, VISET has grown into a robust organization with over 68,000 members across Zimbabwe and regional chapters in Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Eswatini. Our story is one of collective strength, driven by the commitment of informal workers to uplift their communities and gain rightful recognition within the national and regional economy.

Over the years, VISET has spearheaded initiatives in capacity building, gender equality, policy advocacy, and innovation to address the specific challenges of the informal sector. We work closely with government bodies, local authorities, and international partners to create an inclusive, dignified, and supportive environment for informal economy workers, empowering them to transform their livelihoods.

Today, VISET stands as a voice for informal traders, promoting decent work, economic justice, and sustainable development. We continue to grow our movement, bringing together informal economy workers across Africa to build a future where they are respected, protected, and empowered to thrive.

We envision a knowledgeable, protected, recognized, and empowered informal economy worker enjoying decent work, enterprise growth, and sustainable livelihoods. This vision is anchored on cultivating the informal economy, where informed and proactive informal economic workers understand vending laws, constitutional rights, and relevant bylaws, empowering them to play a pivotal role in contributing effectively to the development of the national economy. The role of the informal economy must be recognized, along with the creation of an enabling working environment for informal economy workers.

The organization has a Board of Trustees which consists of the Board Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Treasurer, Board Secretary. The VISET Board meets at least once every quarter (3months). The Board of Trustees is composed of five members from diverse areas of specialty which include, business, law, and accounting and women’s rights. The organisation is led by the Executive Director who is responsible for providing overall strategic direction on the organisation’s strategic priorities. The Executive Director reports to the Board of Trustees on a quarterly and adhoc basis. The Board of Trustees form the advisory team and provide oversight on strategic focus overall programmes and financial departments. VISET annual audit reports are available on request with the latest being for the year 2020.

Since its inception in 2015, VISET has worked to establish structures in project implementation areas. These structures, known as Social-Economic Champions (SOCHAMPS) are the local ambassadors for VISET, that aid information dissemination, communication and provide VISET with information on the contextual pulse of activities and processes taking place in project implementation areas.  Since its formation VISET has implemented over 10 projects throughout the country with support from different partners. VISET collaborates with other informal traders groups and residents associations. The projects covered several crosscutting priority themes, including catalyzing citizen agency, advocating for public accountability and efficiency, giving voice to the voiceless and speaking truth to power, and securing rights to livelihood