The urban informal sector in sub-Saharan Africa: from bad to good (and back again?)

Abstract

Conceptualisations of the informal sector in terms of economic dualism have a long history, as have effective challenges to those conceptualisations. These are discussed in this paper, which then examines shifts in attitudes towards the role of the urban informal sector in sub-Saharan Africa over recent decades, with reference to these theoretical conceptualisations and other approaches. The paper then discusses the dynamics of the sector and the changing role of the African state in promoting or discouraging it and identifies an increasingly negative trend in this respect. Finally, the paper offers a comparative perspective, from north of the Limpopo, on current debates and policy pronouncements about the ‘second economy’ in South Africa.

Notes

¹The importance of culture and social factors for understanding livelihoods and the issue of the nature of incorporation into the dominant economy is strongly exemplified in this special issue by McAllister's paper on rural South Africa.

²Transformations can, of course, have both positive and negative effects.

³Informality also exists in rural areas, but this paper refers only to urban areas.