Abstract:
The study focuses on the challenges faced by managers of Municipal Markets in Maputo City
regarding the attraction and keeping informal vendors in building designed for sale, so that they
practice their activities in an appropriate place, obeying the municipal posture. Relying on theories
of human motivation and leadership, in addition to the systemic approach to the organization and
marketing philosophy, it seeks to explore the case of the Zimpeto Wholesale Market (MGZ) and
its annex, managed by the Municipal Directorate of Markets and Fairs (DMMF) of the Municipal
Council of Maputo City. For the accomplishment of this study, a qualitative research was carried
out, in its essence descriptive, through a participant observation and application of semi-structured
interviews using an interview guide conceived by the researcher, applied to the managers of the
MGZ, DMMF, as well as informal vendors around the market. The study covers facts that took
place in a time horizon between 2007 and 2017, cronologicaly delimited by the inauguration of the
MGZ, in 2007, the publication of the Posture on Markets and Fairs of Maputo City, in 2008, and
the Quinquennial Program of the Municipality Council of Maputo (2014), which deals with the
strategic objectives of the DMMF. Based on the data obtained, the research concluded that the
strategic management of municipal markets is a relevant factor in the attractiveness and retention
of informal vendors in those places. Informal vendors are unmotivated by the management
scenario in these spaces, and it is essential that the leadership responsible for management adopts a
welcoming and participatory posture, so that together, the parties can devise solutions with a view
to improving the management of municipal markets and, consequently, minimize the phenomenon
of selling in inappropriate places. Aware that the research does not empty the discussion of the
problem in question, it is recommended the continuity involving various markets in other regions
of the country, in order to have a more comprehensive understanding of the topic under analysis,
enabling comparisons with the other standards of action in the region and in the world.
