machinga

English

Etymology

From Swahili Machinga, a small ethnic group living on the southern Indian Ocean coast of Tanzania, whose members are known to work in the cities as itinerant traders.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /məˈt͡ʃɪŋɡə/

Noun

machinga (countable and uncountable, plural machingas)

1. (Tanzania) A street vendor; a hawker.
   • 2021 June 18, Louis Kalumbia, “Why the petty traders issue can’t be ignored”, in The Citizen Tanzania‎^[1], archived from the original on 2021-08-04:

     For the past few years, machingas have been left to occupy major markets across the country despite complaints from registered traders. In most extreme circumstances, a machinga would lay out assorted merchandise infront of a licensed trader’s shop.

   • 2021 October 24, Saumu Jumanne, “The plight of ‘machingas’, let’s show some love”, in The Citizen Tanzania‎^[2], archived from the original on 2021-10-24:

     After buying, one has to move from one place to another persuading prospective buyers to take your goods. In some places, the machingas are unwanted. We have many places with the words, ‘hawkers are not allowed in.” On a good day a machinga can sell most of his or her ware, and on a bad day, no sale at all.

   • 2022 April 6, Priya Sippy, “Tanzania: Displaced petty traders struggle with new market rules”, in Al Jazeera English‎^[3], archived from the original on 2022-10-04:

     “The government has lost a lot of revenue from allowing the machinga to do business anywhere,” said Walter Nguma, a Dar es Salaam-based economist and analyst. “They pay no tax, so the government doesn’t make any money from them. Yet formal shop owners who do contribute are struggling to make enough as the machinga takes their customers.

References

• “machinga, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2022.