The Informal Economy in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Informal Economy in Sub-Saharan Africa PDF

Author: Leandro Medina

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2017-07-10

Total Pages: 31

ISBN-13: 1484305949

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The multiple indicator-multiple cause (MIMIC) method is a well-established tool for measuring informal economic activity. However, it has been criticized because GDP is used both as a cause and indicator variable. To address this issue, this paper applies for the first time the light intensity approach (instead of GDP). It also uses the Predictive Mean Matching (PMM) method to estimate the size of the informal economy for Sub-Saharan African countries over 24 years. Results suggest that informal economy in Sub-Saharan Africa remains among the largest in the world, although this share has been very gradually declining. It also finds significant heterogeneity, with informality ranging from a low of 20 to 25 percent in Mauritius, South Africa and Namibia to a high of 50 to 65 percent in Benin, Tanzania and Nigeria.

Social Protection and Informal Workers in Sub-Saharan Africa

Social Protection and Informal Workers in Sub-Saharan Africa PDF

Author: Lone Riisgaard

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-11-24

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 1000478696

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The promotion of social protection in Sub-Saharan Africa happens in a context where informal labour markets constitute the norm, and where most workers live uncertain livelihoods with very limited access to official social protection. The dominant social protection agenda and the associated literature come with an almost exclusive focus on donor and state programmes even if their coverage is limited to small parts of the populations – and in no way stands measure to the needs. In these circumstances, people depend on other means of protection and cushioning against risks and vulnerabilities including different forms of collective self-organizing providing alternative forms of social protection. These informal, bottom-up forms of social protection are at a nascent stage of social protection discussions and little is known about the extent or models of these informal mechanisms. This book seeks to fill this gap by focusing on three important sectors of informal work, namely: transport, construction, and micro-trade in Kenya and Tanzania. It explores how the global social protection agenda interacts with informal contexts and how it fits with the actual realities of the informal workers. Consequently, the authors examine and compare the social protection models conceptualized and implemented ‘from above’ by the public authorities in Tanzania and Kenya with social protection mechanisms ‘from below’ by the informal workers own collective associations. The book will be of interest to academics in International Development Studies, Political Economy, and African Studies, as well as development practitioners and policy communities.

Africa's Informal Workers

Africa's Informal Workers PDF

Author: Ilda Lindell

Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.

Published: 2013-04-04

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 1848138334

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Africa's Informal Workers is a vigorous examination of the informalization and casualization of work, which is changing livelihoods in Africa and beyond. Gathering cases from nine countries and cities across sub-Saharan Africa, and from a range of sectors, this volume goes beyond the usual focus on household ‘coping strategies’ and individual agency, addressing the growing number of collective organizations through which informal workers make themselves visible and articulate their demands and interests. The emerging picture is that of a highly diverse landscape of organized actors, providing grounds for tension but also opportunities for alliance. The collection examines attempts at organizing across the formal-informal work spheres, and explores the novel trend of transnational organizing by informal workers. Part of the ground-breaking Africa Now series, Africa’s Informal Workers is a timely exploration of deep, ongoing economic, political and social transformations.

The Legal Empowerment Agenda

The Legal Empowerment Agenda PDF

Author: Dan Banik

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-12-05

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 1351886940

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Despite providing society with a set of crucial services, large groups of workers in the informal economy are subject to exclusion and discrimination, and their lives are characterised by various types of vulnerabilities and deprivations that result from the denial of social, economic, political and legal protection. Although not new to the development vocabulary, the informal economy has received renewed attention in recent years largely due to the ILO's 'decent work' agenda and various efforts to promote 'legal empowerment of the poor'. With an explicit focus on labour rights, the book focuses on a nuanced understanding of the regulatory and operational challenges and dilemmas related to implementing the two approaches in selected countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to analyzing structures and relations of power between the formal and the informal economies, the book critically discusses the work of governments, civil society organizations and the poor themselves to address the daily challenges of living in the informal economy.

The African Informal Economy

The African Informal Economy PDF

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2024-06-17

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 9004692657

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The informal sector is a vital sustainer of the African economy, employing more than 60% of sub-Saharan Africans. The book examines diverse segments of the informal sector, putting into consideration their structure, dynamics, resilience and gender issues. Chapters are based on empirical research on women in the transport sector, vehicle maintenance artisanship, graduates in the informal sector, COVID 19, and the informal economy. Other chapters focus on the indigenous usury finance system, coconut oil production, herbal medicine, and the gig economy across countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Togo, and Burkina Faso.

Lanterna Rally - Theme by Grace Themes