As Zimbabwe attained political independence from the British rule in 1980, the country was faced with the difficulty of transforming the colonial legacy of an enclave economy which consisted manly of the formal and informal sectors. The post-independence government acknowledged the existence of the informal economy and made a policy position declaring that it would provide the sector with necessary infrastructure for it to meaningfully contribute to the development of the country.

Whilst the informal economy is identified by different names that depict its undesirability, it has contributed significantly to sustaining livelihoods in the face of social, political and economic challenged facing the country. Notwithstanding this, there have been calls supported by the International Labor Organizations (ILO) Resolution R204 (Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation) to formalize the informal economy businesses to ensure structured and legal recognition of informal business operators. This publication contextualizes the informal economy in Zimbabwe identifying the policy environment and assessing its impact from the youth, gender and domestic sector perspective. It provides recommendations to be considered in the formulation of policies in line with ILO R204.