Informal sector employment opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa: legitimate or illegal?

Paschal Anosike, Pervaiz K Ahmed

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (Book)Researchpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this chapter questions about the legality and the legitimacy of the informal sector as a viable economic form in sub-Saharan Africa is examined from an emerging but a neglected intellectual perspective. Using a neoliberal-Marxist theoretical stance, we demonstrate how the informal sector embodies ‘indigenous entrepreneurial dynamism’ in which actors, sometimes acting with the complicity of the State, generate sustainable employment for the individual. It is shown that the informal sector - which has become a permanent feature of the modern African economy, in particular, through a complex system of linkages with the formal sector - contributes a significant proportion of household income in sub-Saharan Nigeria. On this basis, strategies were proposed that might be leveraged to legalize informal sector businesses. Successful implementation of these strategies could open new possibilities towards transforming the informal sector in Nigeria.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Routledge Companion to Business in Africa
EditorsSonny Nwankwo, Kevin Ibeh
Place of PublicationAbingdon Oxon UK
PublisherRoutledge
Chapter33
Pages554-568
Number of pages15
Edition1st
ISBN (Electronic)9781136202506
ISBN (Print)9780415635455
Publication statusPublished - 2015

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