Lilongwe street vending chokes pedestrians, slows traffic

By The Maravi Post

LILONGWE — (MaraviPost): Street vending along roadsides in Lilongwe’s Old Town is increasingly putting pressure on pedestrian space and traffic movement, with traders displaying various goods close to busy roads and leaving limited room for people and vehicles to move freely.

A quick survey by The Maravi Post on the morning of Wednesday, October 7, 2026, captured photographs showing vendors displaying different goods along roadside spaces in Old Town, as pedestrians, motorists and traders compete for limited space and congestion builds up around the busy commercial area.

The situation reflects a long-running challenge for Lilongwe, where street vending provides an important source of income for many traders but can also create difficulties for traffic management, pedestrian safety, sanitation and orderly urban development.

A CityFood assessment of Lilongwe identifies street-vending management as a major challenge for the city, noting that roadside trading contributes to congestion while also recognising the livelihood opportunities it provides.

Earlier urban planning studies have also identified the Old Town and central market areas as congestion hotspots, where narrow roads, vehicles and pedestrians compete for space.

The studies specifically noted that street vendors occupying carriageways around bus and minibus terminal areas contributed to difficult movement between pedestrians and vehicles.

The challenge is not simply about removing vendors from the streets.

Many traders depend on locations with high customer traffic, while designated markets can face problems such as overcrowding, inadequate infrastructure and lower customer numbers.

This has made previous efforts to relocate vendors difficult to sustain.

The latest photographs from Old Town therefore capture a wider urban-management problem facing Lilongwe: how to protect pedestrian and road space while creating practical and accessible trading areas for people whose livelihoods depend on informal commerce.

For motorists and pedestrians, however, the immediate concern remains clear — when roadside trading takes over spaces meant for movement, congestion increases and navigating some of the capital’s busiest streets becomes increasingly difficult.