The provision of transport infrastructure and services is central to social inclusion and spatial equity for people living in rural and remote communities (Horn, Gifford & Ting 2021; Pillay 2023). Access to transport enables the movement of people and goods, supports livelihoods and connects communities to services and opportunities. In rural and peri-urban areas in African countries, formal transport is either absent or insufficient, which contributes to mobility poverty, a condition in which people face significant challenges in accessing affordable and safe transport (Pillay 2023). Formal public transport systems are underdeveloped, fragmented or have deteriorated in many developing countries (Evans, O’Brien & Ng 2018; Toro López & Van den Broeck 2022). In the absence of formal transport services, informal transport entrepreneurs play a crucial role in bridging mobility gaps. An informal transport entrepreneur refers to an individual or small-scale operator who establishes and manages transport services to meet local transport needs and generate income (Rekhviashvili & Sgibnev 2020). Transport entrepreneurs organise transport alternatives that are flexible, adaptive and deeply embedded in the informal economy (Rekhviashvili & Sgibnev 2020).

Informal transport systems are more than just a response to gaps in formal planning; they represent entrepreneurial innovations. Informal transport entrepreneurs mostly operate outside formal regulatory frameworks, relying on adaptive strategies and community-based knowledge to provide flexible, low-cost transport solutions, especially in areas underserved by formal public transport (Cervero & Golub 2007; Kerzhner 2023). In the context of Zimbabwe, the drivers of informal transport represent grassroots mobility innovators who adapt their services to persistent economic crises, inadequate transport infrastructure and the evolving mobility needs of transport users in both urban and rural settings (Chigwenya & Dube 2018; Tichagwa 2016). Informal transport operators often engage in resource and service innovation by customising services to local needs and making effective use of limited resources. Whilst social innovation is typically overlooked in formal innovation frameworks, it plays a crucial role in enabling access, supporting local economies and addressing the practical mobility needs of marginalised populations.

In Zimbabwe, the informal transport system, known locally as Mushikashika, has become a routine mode of mobility in both urban and rural areas (Madamombe 2023; Tichagwa 2016). However, in rural towns where formal public transport is non-existent, informal transport services play an even more crucial role in meeting daily mobility needs. Years of economic instability have contributed to the collapse of formal public transport in many areas of the country (Munuhwa et al. 2020). Existing studies on informal transport in Zimbabwe focus largely on the problematic aspects of Mushikashika, such as congestion, pollution and safety concerns (Dumba 2017; Munuhwa et al. 2020). However, there is limited research on how Mushikashika services in rural towns sustain local livelihoods and serve as critical mobility solutions where formal transport has failed. There is a lack of research on how Mushikashika adapts to operating challenges in rural settings.

The aim of this study is to explore informal transport operators’ perspectives on how an informal transport mode, Mushikashika, supports local enterprises and provides everyday mobility in rural towns in Zimbabwe, whilst also examining gendered vulnerability. To address this, the following objectives were formulated:

For this study, the terms drivers and operators are used interchangeably. Both refer to individuals who manage and run vehicles in the informal transport sector.

Entrepreneurship is a concept with no single universally accepted definition. Richard Cantillon, in the early 18^th century, first coined the concept, which emphasised the entrepreneur’s economic function rather than the personal characteristics of the individual undertaking that role. The definition of entrepreneurship has evolved significantly over time in both academic discourse and practice (Ratten 2023). The meaning and application of entrepreneurship vary considerably across fields (Ratten 2023). Entrepreneurship is often viewed as a dynamic process of identifying, developing and exploiting opportunities, irrespective of the scale of the enterprise or formality of the market (Ratten 2023; Shane & Venkataraman 2000). Besides job creation, entrepreneurship contributes significantly to poverty alleviation, especially in developing regions, such as Africa (Ajide 2020).

Entrepreneurship in transport systems plays a vital role in bridging mobility gaps in underserved areas. In rural and remote communities where formal systems are absent, informal transport becomes a necessity and an opportunity for local entrepreneurship. In many African countries, informal transport systems are not only mobility solutions but also crucial avenues for economic survival. Unlike opportunity entrepreneurs, who innovate out of ambition or market gaps, necessity entrepreneurs are driven by economic hardship and structural unemployment (Kunawotor et al. 2025). Amongst informal transport entrepreneurs in African countries, many are necessity entrepreneurs who engage in entrepreneurial activities due to a lack of employment. However, informal transport operators often engage in resource and service innovation by customising services based on local needs and making use of limited resources.

In Zimbabwe, prolonged economic instability and public sector contraction have limited formal job prospects (Bandauko & Arku 2025; Bandauko & Mandisvika 2015; Mbara, Dumba & Mukwashi 2014). Therefore, many individuals have turned to informal livelihoods as a means of survival (Dube & Chirisa 2023). This has led to the proliferation of activities in the informal sector, including street vending and informal transport systems, such as Mushikashika (Dube & Chirisa 2023). Mushikashika operators demonstrate the necessity of entrepreneurship; however, they operate unlicensed and outside of formal regulatory systems (Chigwenya & Dube 2018; Tichagwa 2016). Operators have created grassroots mobility innovations that sustain livelihoods, fill service voids and respond to fluctuating transport demands in both urban and rural areas. However, their operations are deeply shaped by entrepreneurial framework conditions, weak institutional support, poor infrastructure and regulations (Chigwenya & Dube 2018; Madamombe 2023; Mbara et al. 2014).

In many rural towns in Zimbabwe, where public transport systems have collapsed entirely, informal transport operators establish pick-up points and respond to seasonal demand shifts, such as market days. On the demand side, Mushikashika users include anyone whose daily lives depend on public transport. Though Mushikashika improves access, users are not immune to transport challenges and risks (Madamombe 2023).

Safety concerns are common, especially amongst women, children, and people with disabilities, who face risks of harassment and overloading in these unregulated vehicles (Madamombe 2023; Tom 2024). Women are the majority of passengers who rely on informal transport services (Munuhwa et al. 2020). Mushikashika drivers, often working under economic pressure and without structured oversight, engage in reckless driving, passenger overloading, or poor vehicle maintenance, all of which elevate accident risks (Dumba 2017; Foya 2019).

This study was conducted in Chipinge, a small, remote town in the Manicaland Province of Zimbabwe, near the Mozambique border. In many rural towns in Zimbabwe, including Chipinge, formal transport systems are either underdeveloped or absent, leaving communities with limited mobility. With a population of approximately 360 000 (Zimbabwe Statistics 2022), Chipinge is the commercial and administrative centre of the district (Chipinge Town Council 2024). For many years, Chipinge town has experienced infrastructural and economic challenges, and the transport sector in particular (Chipinge Town Council 2024).

In response to mobility challenges, Mushikashika, an informal, unregulated transport system, has emerged as the foremost mode of transport in Chipinge. Mushikashika is more than just a transport solution; it represents entrepreneurial mobility innovation, where individuals leverage available personal resources to create transport services that meet local needs. Mushikashika provides essential access to goods and services where formal transport is scarce or non-existent. Despite its important role, authorities view it as a nuisance and illegal activity rather than a legitimate response to systemic transport failure (High Court of Zimbabwe 2021). This study challenges this notion by positioning Mushikashika as a bottom-up innovation that should be integrated into formal national transport planning.

This study adopted a qualitative research method to explore entrepreneurial mobility innovations in informal transport systems in rural towns, using Chipinge as a case study. This research method captured the lived experiences of informal transport operators using purposive sampling, targeting drivers who operate Mushikashika vehicles in Chipinge. A total of 21 in-depth interviews were conducted with drivers in Chipinge Town. The sample size was guided by the concept of data saturation, where no new themes or insights emerged from any additional interviews (Morse 2015).

Data were gathered through semi-structured, in-depth interviews, allowing drivers to articulate their experiences, entrepreneurial strategies, challenges and perspectives in their own words. Interviews were conducted in the participants’ preferred language to ensure openness and authenticity. Shona-speaking participants were interviewed in their first language to allow them to express themselves more naturally and comfortably. The researcher subsequently translated the interviews into English to facilitate analysis and reporting. All interviews were transcribed and analysed using ATLAS.ti Version 25.

The data were analysed using thematic analysis following the six-phase procedure outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006). Thematic analysis is an effective method for identifying, interpreting and reporting patterns within qualitative data, recognising that meaning is actively constructed through the analytical process. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and imported into ATLAS.ti Version 25 for organisation and coding. Analysis began with repeated readings of the transcripts to achieve deep familiarisation with participants’ accounts. Inductive coding was then undertaken to derive codes directly from the data, focusing on issues such as motivations for entering Mushikashika, livelihood strategies, mobility service patterns, operational constraints (for example, fuel costs, road conditions, vehicle maintenance), interactions with law enforcement, and passenger safety concerns. These codes were subsequently clustered into conceptually coherent categories, for instance, grouping ‘police roadblocks’, ‘being chased’ and ‘confiscation threats’ under law enforcement harassment, and grouping ‘overcrowding’, ‘harassment’ and ‘touts coercing women’ under passenger vulnerability. Themes were iteratively reviewed against the full dataset to ensure internal coherence and clear distinction, with overlapping or redundant codes refined. Final themes were defined and named to clearly articulate their central organising concepts, and the write-up interpreted these themes in relation to entrepreneurship, rural mobility provision, and transport equity. The researcher conducted the core analysis, supported by regular peer debriefing sessions with an independent qualitative researcher to discuss coding decisions and thematic interpretations, thereby enhancing analytical rigour and limiting potential individual bias.

This section presents the key findings from the interviews with Mushikashika drivers in Chipinge. The findings were organised into themes that highlight both the economic significance of informal transport and the challenges surrounding its operation. The findings illustrate how Mushikashika functions as a livelihood strategy, mobility solution and site of vulnerability, whilst also pointing to its contested future. It is important to emphasise that the vulnerabilities identified in this study are based on the operator’s perspective. Whilst these accounts provide valuable insights into how drivers perceive passenger risks, they do not substitute for passenger narratives. This distinction situates the findings within the broader project of understanding informal transport from multiple vantage points. Operators provided detailed accounts of passenger-related concerns, particularly regarding women’s safety and dignity when using informal transport.

This study aimed to understand informal transport as a grassroots mobility innovation and an entrepreneurial lifeline that bridges transport gaps whilst generating income opportunities in economically marginalised areas. The findings of this study highlight the dual role of Mushikashika as both a livelihood strategy and a contested form of providing informal transport. The findings are consistent with those of other researchers who position informal transport as both essential for mobility and problematic in terms of safety, regulations and governance (Cervero & Golub 2007; Durant et al. 2023; Rekhviashvili et al. 2022; Sunio et al. 2021).

The prominence of Mushikashika as a livelihood strategy resonates with broader research on informality as a vital source of employment and income generation (Chigwenya & Dube 2018; Horn et al. 2021; Nani et al. 2025). Previous studies have described Zimbabwe’s urban centres as increasingly defined by informality, where small-scale entrepreneurship and informal transport provide critical income opportunities amidst formal sector collapse (Dube & Chirisa 2012, 2023). Similar observations were made by Gukurume (2018), who noted that youth in Zimbabwe’s small and medium enterprises (SME) sector navigate precarious but vital livelihoods within the informal economy. Comparable patterns emerge across Africa. For example, Stasik (2015) documents how informal transport in Ghana functions not only as a mobility system, but also as an entrepreneurial space. In Ghana, most public transport is provided by small-scale entrepreneurs. The expansion of the informal sector in developing economies, particularly in the Global South, has positioned it as the primary source of employment and a key driver of economic growth (Nani et al. 2025). From this study, Mushikashika has emerged as a necessary livelihood strategy for many, demonstrating the entrepreneurial capacity of local actors. The informal sector has become a central engine of employment and mobility across African urban centres.

This study found that operational challenges ranged from harassment by law enforcement and regulatory uncertainty to poor road infrastructure, competition amongst operators and the risk of vehicle breakdowns. Law enforcement harassment is a recurrent problem, as drivers are frequently stopped for operating without proper licenses. This resonates with Tichagwa’s (2016) study, which highlighted that unlicensed taxis in Zimbabwe operate in a climate of constant police crackdowns, creating a precarious and costly environment for drivers. Similarly, in Harare, informal drivers often adopt unsafe behaviour partly because of the pressure to evade police and to maximise earnings in a hostile regulatory context (Dumba 2017). Like other small towns in Zimbabwe, Chipinge suffers from a poor transport infrastructure and deteriorating roads, which increase vehicle maintenance costs and contribute to accidents. Similar challenges were identified by Munuhwa et al. (2020), who argued that inadequate urban infrastructure in Harare undermines the sustainability of transport. Competition has also emerged as a major operational issue. As noted by Kerzhner (2022), informal transport networks evolve dynamically because individual vehicles compete for passengers across the city, each functioning as a separate business. This can lead to an oversupply of transport in some areas, fare wars and aggressive passenger solicitation. In Chipinge, similar dynamics were observed, with drivers reporting conflicts over loading points and difficulties in sustaining consistent incomes.

The abuse of women who use Mushikashika is concerning. Touts, who act as informal middlemen between passengers and drivers, forced women to board vehicles against their preference, sometimes through coercion or harassment. Women who sit in the front passenger seat are prone to abuse by drivers, especially during gear changing. According to Madamombe (2023), women and children in Zimbabwe remain the most vulnerable groups in public transport. In Zimbabwe, this vulnerability is compounded by the weak regulations governing informal transport (Dumba 2017; Tichagwa 2016), exposing women and children to both physical insecurity and social exclusion. Infrastructure design in many developing countries does not prioritise women’s comfort and safety (Borker 2024). Consequently, women’s perceptions of violence, combined with their actual experiences of insecurity in public spaces, directly affect their mobility and economic choices.

Overall, the findings of this study demonstrate that Mushikashika represents a paradox within Zimbabwe’s public transport space. On the one hand, informal transport is a vital entrepreneurial response to state neglect and economic crisis, sustaining livelihoods and bridging critical transport gaps in rural towns like Chipinge. However, informal transport remains deeply embedded in challenges of safety, gendered abuse, competition and weak regulations that limit its long-term sustainability. The findings of this study affirm previous studies that view informal transport as both indispensable and problematic (Cervero & Golub 2007; Dube & Chirisa 2012, 2023; Rekhviashvili & Sgibnev 2020), whilst also extending the debate by highlighting women’s embodied vulnerabilities as a central issue. Though the study draws on operators’ accounts rather than direct passenger interviews, the findings provide evidence of how informal transport functions as everyday mobility provision in rural towns. Operators’ narratives illustrate that Mushikashika sustains routine movement and supports microeconomic activity, whilst simultaneously generating risks associated with informality and weak regulation.

This study aimed to understand informal transport by exploring Mushikashika as a grassroots mobility innovation and an entrepreneurial lifeline that bridges transport gaps. This would generate income opportunities in economically marginalised areas because of the collapse of formal transport in Zimbabwe’s town of Chipinge. The findings revealed that informal transport has become both an essential livelihood strategy and a crucial mobility solution in the context of economic precarity and infrastructural neglect. For many operators, Mushikashika is a necessity-driven survival mechanism, reflecting wider trends of informality across Zimbabwe and the Global South. The study exposed the vulnerabilities and risks inherent in unregulated systems. Women emerged as the most disadvantaged group, facing harassment, coercion and insecurity when accessing Mushikashika services. Operational challenges, such as police harassment, poor road conditions, high costs and intense competition, further constrain the service’s sustainability. These findings confirm that whilst informal transport fills critical service gaps, it simultaneously generates new forms of exclusion and insecurity.

Based on the findings, the government should consider regulatory integration rather than criminalisation of informal transport. Instead of suppressing Mushikashika, especially in areas where there is non-existent formal public transport, policymakers should develop frameworks that recognise its economic and social role. This could include the introduction of low-cost, tiered licensing systems for drivers and vehicles, accompanied by clear guidelines on safety and operational standards. Measures should include training for drivers on gender sensitivity, stricter penalties for harassment, and the incorporation of women’s voices in transport policymaking. Investment in road infrastructure of small towns is critical to reduce vehicle deterioration, improve safety and lower operational costs for transport operators. Chipinge and similar towns would benefit from targeted road rehabilitation programmes that prioritise commuter routes. Since touts are central to the functioning of informal transport but often contribute to harassment and disorder, there is a need to formalise their role. This could involve registering touts, providing basic training in passenger relations, and introducing accountability measures under local council supervision.

Whilst this study provides important insights into the role of informal transport as a grassroots mobility innovation in Chipinge, it is not without limitations. The study was confined to a single rural town. Though the findings offer valuable perspectives, they may not fully capture the diversity of informal transport practices across different urban and rural contexts in Zimbabwe. Future studies could conduct comparative studies across multiple towns and cities in Zimbabwe to help identify variations in the operation and governance of Mushikashika between rural, peri-urban and urban contexts.