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

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  • Deborah Potts

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.

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  • Deborah Potts, 2008. "The urban informal sector in sub-Saharan Africa: from bad to good (and back again?)," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 151-167.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:deveza:v:25:y:2008:i:2:p:151-167
    DOI: 10.1080/03768350802090527
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Colin C. Williams, 2023. "A Modern Guide to the Informal Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 18668.
    2. Osuagwu, Eze Simpson & Hsu, Sara & Adesola, Ololade, 2021. "The impact of Microfinance Institutions on the Informal Economy in Nigeria," MPRA Paper 112947, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Average Chigwenya & Dube Desire, 2019. "Infrastructure Development and Property Sales in Low Income Residential Properties in Bulawayo," Baltic Journal of Real Estate Economics and Construction Management, Sciendo, vol. 7(1), pages 123-134, January.
    4. Oyolola, Feyisayo & Otonne, Adewumi, 2020. "Entrepreneurship, Human Capacity Development and Youth Employment Generation: A Study of Selected Sub-Saharan Africa Countries," MPRA Paper 101737, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Usman Ladan & Colin C. Williams, 2019. "Evaluating Theorizations Of Informal Sector Entrepreneurship: Some Lessons From Zamfara, Nigeria," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 24(04), pages 1-18, December.
    6. Harris, John, 2014. "The Messy Reality of Agglomeration Economies in Urban Informality: Evidence from Nairobi’s Handicraft Industry," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 102-113.
    7. John RW Foster & Mihalis Chasomeris & Derick Blaauw, 2022. "‘This job is not part of my dreams, what do I leave my children? Nothing’. Livelihoods of Durban car guards at ticketed pay to park sites," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 37(5), pages 331-347, August.
    8. Sulemana, Iddisah & Kpienbaareh, Daniel, 2018. "An empirical examination of the relationship between income inequality and corruption in Africa," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 27-42.
    9. Dasgupta, Nandini & Lloyd-Jones, Tony, 2018. "Heterogeneity and vulnerability in the urban informal economy: Reworking the problem in the current context. The case of uganda," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 10, pages 64-72.
    10. Rafaela Bastidas & Nicolás Acosta, 2019. "Misallocation and manufacturing TFP in Ecuador: formal, semi-formal and informal firms," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 8(1), pages 1-29, December.
    11. Favourate Y Sebele-Mpofu & Nomazulu Moyo, 2021. "An Evil to be Extinguished or a Resource to be harnessed-Informal Sector in Developing Countries: A Case of Zimbabwe," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 13(3), pages 53-72.
    12. Katherine V Gough & Francis Chigunta & Thilde Langevang, 2016. "Expanding the scales and domains of (in)security: Youth employment in urban Zambia," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(2), pages 348-366, February.
    13. Giroux, Stacey & Blekking, Jordan & Waldman, Kurt & Resnick, Danielle & Fobi, Daniel, 2021. "Informal vendors and food systems planning in an emerging African city," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    14. Amin Y Kamete, 2020. "Neither friend nor enemy: Planning, ambivalence and the invalidation of urban informality in Zimbabwe," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(5), pages 927-943, April.
    15. Lourdes Diaz Olvera & Didier Plat & Pascal Pochet, 2020. "Looking for the obvious: motorcycle taxi services in Sub-Saharan African cities," Post-Print halshs-02182855, HAL.
    16. Christian M Rogerson, 2016. "South Africa’s informal economy: Reframing debates in national policy," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 31(1-2), pages 172-186, February.
    17. Rogerson Christian M., 2018. "Informality and migrant entrepreneurs in Cape Town’s inner city," Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, Sciendo, vol. 40(40), pages 157-171, June.
    18. Louis G. Alcorn & Alex Karner, 2021. "Integrating formal and informal transit into one hybrid passenger transport system in Lagos, Nigeria," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 1361-1377, June.
    19. Marc C. A. Wegerif & Paul Hebinck, 2016. "The Symbiotic Food System: An ‘Alternative’ Agri-Food System Already Working at Scale," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-25, August.
    20. Aloysius Newenham-Kahindi & Charles E Stevens, 2018. "An institutional logics approach to liability of foreignness: The case of mining MNEs in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(7), pages 881-901, September.
    21. Jackson, Emerson Abraham, 2019. "Informal Employment," MPRA Paper 97902, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 02 Dec 2019.
    22. Terence Jackson, 2013. "Reconstructing the Indigenous in African Management Research," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 53(1), pages 13-38, February.
    23. Mpendulo Harold Thulare & Inocent Moyo & Sifiso Xulu, 2021. "Systematic Review of Informal Urban Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-18, October.
    24. Diaz Olvera, Lourdes & Plat, Didier & Pochet, Pascal, 2020. "Looking for the obvious: Motorcycle taxi services in Sub-Saharan African cities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    25. Ashira Menashe-Oren, 2020. "Migrant-based youth bulges and social conflict in urban sub-Saharan Africa," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 42(3), pages 57-98.

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