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Articles on Informal sector

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South Africa’s Alexandra township in the foreground, where the majority live in squalor, and Sandton in the background, representing the most privileged Shutterstock

Panic buying in the wake of COVID-19 underscores inequalities in South Africa

Most consumers in South Africa aren’t able to fill up a trolley of groceries for their daily needs, let alone join the panic buying induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chilean police clash with anti-government demonstrators during a protest in Santiago, Chile, Nov. 12, 2019. Santiago is one of a dozen cities worldwide to see mass unrest in recent months. AP Photo/Esteban Felix

Urban unrest propels global wave of protests

From Santiago and La Paz to Beirut and Jakarta, many of the cities now gripped by protest share a common problem: They’ve grown too much, too fast.
A street vendor in Hanoi, Vietnam. Rather than being “helpless and hopeless”, many informal workers are self-reliant and ambitious. Wikimedia

Five myths about the informal economy that need debunking

The informal economy is often perceived negatively, yet recent research from developing and emerging countries indicate that the preconceptions that surround it are myths.
The port of Mombasa in Kenya, which was the first country, with Ghana, to ratify the African Continental Free Trade Agreement in 2018. Shutterstock

More work lies ahead to make Africa’s new free trade area succeed

Africa’s new continental free trade area, the AfCFTA, is a remarkable achievement. However, decisive diplomatic, technical and social action is needed for it to succeed.

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