Category Archives: Literature review
African Traders in Guangzhou, China: Routes, Profits, and Reasons
While digging around for information after my recent flight where I was offered an upclose and personal look at increasing informal trade between Africa and China, I came across this research paper by Yang Yang from the Chinese University of … Continue reading
Senegalese research on innovation processes in their informal ICT sector
I came across some excellent research by Dr Almamy Konte and Mariama Ndong of Senegal. While I’m sure the original working paper in French must be far better than this drafted English translation, their key points are nonetheless something to … Continue reading
Book Review – Stealth of Nations: The global rise of the informal economy
The first best thing that I can say, on Robert Neuwirth’s Stealth of Nations, is that I’m grateful to the author for writing the book. I’ve just finished reading it, after purchasing it at a premium from Kinokuniya in downtown … Continue reading
Welcome to Bazaaristan: global informal economy being recognized
Across the globe, 1.8 billion people — a quarter of the world’s population — work off the books each day. They are paid in cash for the goods they sell and the services they provide, and due to their ubiquity, … Continue reading
The role of women in informal trade in Africa
Section extract from this ARIA chapter “Informal Trade in Africa”: Women play a prominent role in informal trade, and in informal business activities in particular. These few figures are proof enough: four to five million women in West Africa are … Continue reading
The BoP are people too – a shift in storytelling
Reading the recent post on "Portfolios of the Poor: How the Poor Live on Less Than $2 a Day" by Rob Katz on nextbillion.net, it struck me that this might be an early signal of a shift away from simply … Continue reading
Sudhir Venkatesh and the rise of the “other” BoP
Photo credit: Jim Wilson/The New York Times Even as we observe and study those who live on irregular and unpredictable incomes in the lower income strata of the developing world, articles in the media this week catch our attention to … Continue reading
Review of the informal economy and its connection to the BoP
By seeking to understand how people manage their household expenses when living on irregular and unpredictable incomes, my naive assumptions at the start of this enterprise (the iBoP Project is only the first step, this broad area of business models … Continue reading
The Prepaid Economy Blog 