A bill that compels street vendors in Addis Abeba to wear lanyard badges featuring their name, trading location and type of employment has been prepared by the city Trade Bureau.

According to the draft, clothing, electronic gadgets, baked goods, fruits and vegetables, books, non-alcoholic beverages, housing equipment and plastic bags will be the only products allowed to be sold on the streets. The vendors must be above 18 and present evidence of unemployment from the Wereda office.

The absence of a legal framework for the line of business has raised issues with taxation and road congestion, according to Engidaw Tegegn, research & promotion team leader at the Bureau.

"A proper regulation has become necessary," he said.

Traffic congestion has become an impediment to transportation, with close to 54pc movement accounting for pedestrians while 31pc is covered by public transport. A study prepared by the Addis Abeba Transport Bureau over the past two months unveils that street trading has contributed immensely to current low motorisation rates and frequent congestion.

The sidewalks hovered by traders result in high accident rates as they are not integrated with transport network routes, said Mohammed Hussein, advisor at the Bureau. He added that the limited institutional capacity and uncoordinated efforts of infrastructure, transport network, employment and population centres have played a part.

Nearly 212 deaths due to traffic accidents have been recorded in the past six months. The Megenagna, Mexico and Ayer Tena areas are the most prominent places where street trading has become prevalent, according to a Senior Expert at the Addis Ababa Traffic Management Agency (AATMA), Dereje Worku.

"Afternoons are peak hours when lanes become too crowded," he told Fortune.