Since 1999, extreme poverty has declined while rates of young people in education and employment have risen. Without investment though, the impact of the pandemic could see this progress imperilled,
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Articles on informal economy
Displaying 1 - 20 of 25 articles
Urban governance must include community groups, non-state and informal actors in the battle against COVID-19 in Africa.
It is vital that the latest move by government towards restructuring succeeds in making the industry safe, reliable and viable, contributing to the country’s economy.
Despite high prices, poor quality and inconvenience, Kenya's urban poor continued to buy water from private vendors because it's still their best option.
After trying to remove street vendors from its cities for years, China is supporting them to help jump-start its economy. An urban scholar explains why other cities should do the same.
Millions of South Africans exchange billions of rands annually but disputes involving these transactions hardly ever appear before the country's courts.
The loss of livelihoods flowing from the efforts to combat the pandemic highlights the dearth of social protection measures on the continent.
The current lockdown in Zimbabwe is going to provide a stern test for its informal economy, which is the country's dominant economy and employs 90% of people.
While small businesses will be partially cushioned by government support measures, there's no support for the most vulnerable workers.
Many informal workers will not be able to take the precautions that health authorities suggest.
By better understanding the politics and governance of African cities and variations across cities, we can identify feasible opportunities to improve informal traders' livelihoods.
In our urban world, turning the makeshift and the informal into the livable and sustainable is our greatest challenge.
Domestic workers in Argentina are essentially women employed in the informal economy which can enable forms of mistreatment. Today they’re fighting to formalise their status.
The informal economy is often perceived negatively, yet recent research from developing and emerging countries indicate that the preconceptions that surround it are myths.
Building a fiscally capable state won't bring benefits in the short term but can build taxpayers confidence.
Street vendors are the most visible of the people who work in the informal sector – up to half the urban workforce in cities like Manila – but whose needs and rights receive no official recognition.
South Africa needs to rethink the role of the informal economy as it mulls over ideas to beat joblessness.
Graft is common in the way that markets in Kinshasa are run.
South Africa should look towards inclusive growth to push back the growing levels of poverty within the population.
India's recent move toward a cash-free society helped reveal just how important physical currency is to the informal economies that the poorest families depend upon.
Top contributors
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John Rennie Short is a Friend of The Conversation.Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
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Senior Research Fellow, The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
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Professor and Director, World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), United Nations University
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Associate professor, Rhodes University
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Research Fellow, Western Sydney University
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Senior Lecturer in Agricultural Economics, University of Pretoria
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Distinguished Research Fellow, Human Sciences Research Council
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Lecturer in Economics, University of Venda
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Senior Research Fellow, Digital Media, Western Sydney University
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Associate professor at the Centre for Social Development in Africa, University of Johannesburg, University of Johannesburg
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Senior Lecturer, School of Archaeology and Anthropology; Director of the Australian National Centre for Latin American Studies; Executive Committee Member of the ANU Gender Institute, Australian National University
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Institute Associate, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University
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Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology, University of Michigan
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Research Associate, Sociology, University of Pretoria
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Senior Lecturer in International Development, University of Antwerp
