Informal cross-border trade in Africa: How much? Why? And what impact?

Informal cross-border trade in Africa: How much? Why? And what impact? PDF

Author: Bouet, Antoine

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2018-12-21

Total Pages: 56

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Informal cross-border trade (ICBT) represents a prominent phenomenon in Africa. Several studies suggest that for certain products and countries, the value of informal trade may meet or even exceed the value of formal trade. This paper provides a review of existing efforts to measure informal trade. We list 18 initiatives aimed at measuring ICBT in Africa. The paper also summarizes discussions conducted with many stakeholders in Africa between December 2016 and May 2018 regarding the measurement, the determinants, and the implications of ICBT. The methodologies used to measure ICBT in Africa differ widely, but they do confirm that informal trade in Africa is both sizeable and volatile. Both evidence on the determinants of ICBT and discussions with stakeholders suggest that policies should aim to reduce the existing costs associated with formal trade and provide positive incentives for traders and producers to move into the formal economy in order to avoid the loss of economic potential stemming from informal trade.

Handbook on Trade and Development

Handbook on Trade and Development PDF

Author: Oliver Morrissey

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2015-05-29

Total Pages: 476

ISBN-13: 1781005311

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This timely Handbook comprehensively explores the complex relationships between trade and economic performance in developing countries, illustrating that it is not trade per se that is important but the context, at the firm, country and regional level, in which trade occurs.

Informal Cross-Border Trade in Africa

Informal Cross-Border Trade in Africa PDF

Author: Kathryn Pace

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2019-10-02

Total Pages: 6

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

As ICBT appears to be so large and is heavily linked to food security, economic development, and women’s empowerment, it is important to obtain accurate measurements of this type of trade. More accurate data can improve the statistical measurements of balance of payments and external accounts, improving global trade measurement and modeling, and facilitate the development of more accurate domestic food balance sheets. Overall, measurement of ICBT in Africa can provide a more accurate picture of other aspects related to informal trade, including information on informal labor markets and movement patterns of staple foods during periods of crises. Each of these provides the opportunity for better policymaking using reliable and accurate data.

Calibrating Informal Cross-Border Trade in Southern Africa

Calibrating Informal Cross-Border Trade in Southern Africa PDF

Author: Peberdy, Sally

Publisher: Southern African Migration Programme

Published: 2017-01-17

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13: 1920596135

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The study demonstrates that informal cross-border is a complex phenomenon and not uniform across the region, or even through border posts of the same country. However, the overall volume of trade, duties paid and VAT foregone, as well as the types of goods and where they are produced, indicate that this sector of regional trade should be given much greater attention and support by governments of the region as well as regional organizations such as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), SADC and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU).

Women Without Borders

Women Without Borders PDF

Author: V. N. Muzvidziwa

Publisher: OSSREA

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In the face of a declining and collapsing national economy, this book presents the story of enterprising and entrepreneurial Zimbabwean women, operating as informal cross-border traders in the SADC region. The women are struggling against economic wants and deprivation, and devising their own initiatives to defeat poverty. The study relates their hopes, perceptions and strategies for managing the structural constraints at micro- and macro-levels that at once make their activities necessary, and simultaneously impose limitations on them.

Africa agriculture trade monitor 2020

Africa agriculture trade monitor 2020 PDF

Author: Bouët, Antoine, ed.

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2020-10-05

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13: 0896293904

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The 2020 Africa Agriculture Trade Monitor, the third in this series of flagship reports, presents an overview of trade in agriculture products in Africa and highlights the main impediments that affect intra- and extra-African trade. This year’s report includes chapters focusing on intra-Africa trade integration for agricultural products, including the role of nontariff measures, and on the competitiveness of African value chains that are crucial for food security (cereals, sugar, vegetable oils). The importance and measurement of informal cross-border trade for agricultural products is also examined. The final chapter looks at regional integration experiences in Southern Africa, with a focus on the Southern Africa Development Community. The report offers policy recommendations for improving agricultural exports performance, especially in the context of the unprecedented uncertainty the world is facing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Informal Entrepreneurship and Cross-Border Trade in Maputo, Mozambique

Informal Entrepreneurship and Cross-Border Trade in Maputo, Mozambique PDF

Author: Raimundo, Ines

Publisher: Southern African Migration Programme

Published: 2017-01-17

Total Pages: 58

ISBN-13: 1920596208

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This report presents the results of a SAMP survey of informal entrepreneurs connected to cross-border trade between Johannesburg and Maputou during 2014. The study sought to enhance the evidence base on the links between migration and informal entrepreneur-ship in Southern African cities and to examine the implications for municipal, national and regional policy.

Informal Entrepreneurship and Cross-Border Trade between Zimbabwe and South Africa

Informal Entrepreneurship and Cross-Border Trade between Zimbabwe and South Africa PDF

Author: Chikanda, Abel

Publisher: Southern African Migration Programme

Published: 2017-02-10

Total Pages: 46

ISBN-13: 1920596291

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Zimbabwe has witnessed the rapid expansion of informal cross-border trading (ICBT) with neighbouring countries over the past two decades. Beginning in the mid-1990s when the country embarked on its Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP), a large number of people were forced into informal employment through worsening economic conditions and the decline in formal sector jobs.

Informal Trade and Underground Economy in Myanmar

Informal Trade and Underground Economy in Myanmar PDF

Author: Winston Set Aung

Publisher: Institut de recherche sur l’Asie du Sud-Est contemporaine

Published: 2018-07-03

Total Pages: 96

ISBN-13: 2355960240

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

At present, collecting and analyzing data from inside Myanmar remains notoriously difficult. There is, therefore, a non-Myanmar approach towards the majority of studies on Myanmar. This is especially the case when dealing with informal or illegal trade within the country’s territory. IRASEC and the Observatory on Illicit Trafficking wanted to fill this gap by giving the floor to Professor Winston Set Aung, the founder and the director of the Asia Development Research Institute, and director of the Asia Language and Business Academy in Myanmar. He is also an MBA lecturer at the Institute of Economics in Yangon and is involved in several international and regional research programs in partnership with various research institutes including the Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand; Tokyo University, Japan; and the Institute for Security and Development Policy of Sweden, Stockholm Environmental Institute. The focus of Professor Winston Set Aung’s study is to provide a Myanmar-centric perspective on informal or illegal trade. The author offers an analysis regarding the process of informal exchanges through a pragmatic and non-contextualized critique. The causes of informal and illegal exchanges are identified and described without commenting on their origins. This intentional, measured, and calculated conservative perspective enables us to think on how to best use these flows in the current political situation in Myanmar. It seems therefore useful and relevant to make this data available to our readers.