Nigeria Imports: Informal Trade data was reported at 1,134,693.000 NGN mn in 2021. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.000 NGN mn for 2020. Nigeria Imports: Informal Trade data is updated yearly, averaging 703,627.608 NGN mn from Dec 2008 (Median) to 2021, with 14 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,134,693.000 NGN mn in 2021 and a record low of 0.000 NGN mn in 2020. Nigeria Imports: Informal Trade data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Central Bank of Nigeria. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Nigeria – Table NG.JA003: Trade Statistics: Annual.

The informal economy is associated with the vulnerability and the poverty of workers. The dissertation’s main objective was to examine the main determinants of the informal economy to inform policymakers on the best approach to tackle it. This thesis’s novelty stems from the empirical evidence it offers on the main strategies used so far to tackle informality while considering the African continent’s specificities. We approach these preoccupations by asking the following questions: 1.Does local government regulation of the informal sector reduce informal entrepreneurship? And what are the potential unwanted consequences of such a stricter approach towards informality? 2. Do the perceived benefits from the formal financial sector motivate firms to be tax compliant? And does the existence of informal finance mitigate that effect? 3. Do small firms benefit from formalisation? And what other measures can enhance those potential benefits? 4. Does an employment tax incentive for young people increase their likelihood to be employed and formally employed? Chapter 2 exploits a unique regulatory framework of the informal sector in South-Africa, to estimate the effects of trading permits in the informal sector. We rely on individual panel data and municipality laws to show that a mandatory trading permit in the informal sector reduces informal entrepreneurship, particularly in the trading sector. To provide a causal effect of these regulations, we apply a difference in difference strategy. We use data bought from Sabinet Legal platform and data from National Income Dynamics Study in south-Africa. Chapter 3 investigates the effect of low costs of banks on small firms compliance with value-added tax, profit tax and local tax. This chapter equally explores the mitigating impact of informal finance on the role of low costs of banks in small firms’ tax compliance. We estimate a recursive trivariate probit model that simultaneously estimates an equation of tax compliance, an equation of informal finance, and an equation of low costs of banks. The data used is the Small Business ICT Access and Usage Survey 2011-2012 after a request to the University of Cape Town. Chapter 4 studies the impacts of formalization for micro and small firms on a range of outcomes for several Sub-Saharan countries. More specifically, it explores the effects of formalization on firms’ performance, export, access to trade credit, and loans from banks. It equally assesses whether receiving support from incubators and training enhance the benefits and or mitigate the potentially adverse effects for micro firms.The data used is the Small Business ICT Access and Usage Survey 2011-2012 after a request to the University of Cape Town. We adopt an endogenous switching probit model to estimate the impacts on a firm’s performance, exports, and access to trade credit and loans from banks. Chapter 5 investigates the effect of an Employment Tax Incentive (ETI) on youths’ employment and formal employment in South-Africa. The ETI lowers the cost that employers face when hiring youth. We adopt a difference-in-difference strategy to estimate the impact on employment and formal employment. We use data the NIDS data in South-Africa after a request to data first.

As of June 2025, the number of employees in the informal sector was higher in the occupational area of services and trade workers, totaling nearly ******* workers. This was followed by elementary occupations, craftsmen, and craft workers.

South Africa Employment: Labour Force Survey: Non Agricultural: Informal: Trade data was reported at 1,092.649 Person th in Mar 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1,097.193 Person th for Dec 2017. South Africa Employment: Labour Force Survey: Non Agricultural: Informal: Trade data is updated quarterly, averaging 1,066.501 Person th from Mar 2008 (Median) to Mar 2018, with 41 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,139.292 Person th in Jun 2017 and a record low of 1,004.982 Person th in Sep 2014. South Africa Employment: Labour Force Survey: Non Agricultural: Informal: Trade data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Statistics South Africa. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Africa – Table ZA.G009: Employment: by Industry.

The number of people employed in the informal sector in South Africa reached a peak point at over 7.8 million in 2023. In the period under review, the number of people with jobs outside formal institutions has generally been following an increasing trend.

In 2002, the Mexican government began an effort to improve health access to the 50 million uninsured in Mexico, a program known as Seguro Popular (SP). The SP offered virtually free health insurance to informal workers, altering the incentives to operate in the formal economy. We find that the SP program had a negative effect on the number of employers and employees formally registered in small and medium firms (up to 50 employees). Our results suggest that the positive gains of expanding health coverage should be weighed against the implications of the reallocation of labor away from the formal sector.

In 2024, the highest rate of informal employment in Thailand was in the agricultural sector, at over ** percent. This was followed by the service and trade sector, with around ** percent of the informal employment rate.

This data is from a study conducted on informal food retail in two of Nigeria’s secondary cities, Calabar and Minna. The aim of the survey is to gather information on the livelihoods of these traders and the governance constraints they encounter outside of the region’s capital and primate cities. Interviews with 1,097 informal food vendors – 530 in Calabar and 567 in Minna – across nine markets in each city, allow for a better understanding of the role of informal food vendors in secondary cities as a key component of agricultural transformation and food security, while also examining how their treatment by government officials affects their own food security and their ability to facilitate agricultural transformation. The survey is split into 11 survey modules: 1. Sampling (SA) – preliminary characteristics of the informal food trader 2. General Information (ID) – basic demographic, educational and household background information 3. Employment (EM) – details on current job 4. Business (BS) – information on business management and the associated fees paid to operate 5. Taxes and Fees (TX) – range of fees and taxes paid and the benefits received from those payments 6. Government Engagement (GE) – type and level of interaction between government officials and food traders 7. Food Safety and Food Security (FS) – awareness of food safety and source of personal food 8. Service Delivery and Accountability (SD) – services offered in the market and who could best deliver them 9. Public Participation and Associational Membership (PP) – involvement in different associations and participation in public and community affairs 10. Household Welfare (HW) – details on household assets and services 11. Final (FI) – enumerator observations

Abstract

The Informal Cross Border Trade (ICBT) Survey was carried out during the second and third weeks of June in 2011. The ICBT monitoring covered fifteen (15) border stations that were selected out of the existing twenty four (24) official border stations. Previous fact finding mission had established that the selected 15 border stations experience large informal trade flows. The specific objective of the survey was to collect benchmark information at the border stations on the commodities transacted with a view to establishing the magnitude of unrecorded transactions.

External Trade Statistics are macro-economic statistics compiled from the normal administrative process of customs authorities and other agencies. Trade information is crucial in monitoring the flow of resources across international boundaries and is used for compilation of Balance of Payments and National Accounts Statistics. Under the United Nations (UN) general framework of compiling international merchandise trade statistics, all goods entering or leaving a country are recorded in External Trade Statistics, except transit goods. At the moment, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) collects data for formal trade transactions using the Single Customs Declaration (SCD) Document. However, all transactions involving inflow or outflow of goods under informal trade arrangements are largely unrecorded. Hence, External Trade Statistics, National Accounts Statistics and Balance of Payments Statistics are incomplete, due to lack of data on the informal trade component.

Geographic coverage

Out of the existing 24 border stations, 16 border stations were purposively selected. These comprised Lwakhakha, Malaba and Busia (along Kenya/Uganda border), Isebania, Namanga, Taveta, Lungalunga and Shimoni (along Kenya/Tanzania border), Rhamu, Lamu and Mandera (along Kenya/Somalia border), Mandera and Moyale (along Kenya/Ethiopia border), and Kapweta, Nandapal and Lokichoggio (along Kenya/Sudan border).

Out of the 16 selected border stations, data collection was done completely in 13 border points (Busia, Malaba, Isebania, Namanga, Taveta, Lungalunga, Moyale, Mandera, Lokichoggio, Shimoni, Nandapal, Rhamu and Lwakhakha). Due to insecurity concerns coupled with other logistical complications, Kapweta and Lamu border points were not operational. Hence, ICBT survey was not conducted in these areas.

Analysis unit

Individuals

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Although a complete enumeration (census) is recommended for all customs stations, it was practically impossible due to cost implications. This called for purposive selection of some border stations to yield the desired results. There are many customs stations that are officially gazetted with most of them having no evidence of ICBT activities taking place within their vicinity.

The first stage involved determining the total number of customs stations to constitute the population size (population sampling frame). The customs stations that were known to have informal trade transactions and were strategically situated at the frontier between Kenya and her neighbours, comprised the entire population. Custom stations located in insecure places and which did not experience any informal trade activities were excluded from the population sampling frame. Other considerations in defining the population were availability of supporting government institutions (like immigrations, revenue offices and police stations), accessibility and the volume of unrecorded trade involved.

The sampling frame therefore consisted of a list of 24 customs stations in the population domain selected using the above criteria. This was made possible by prior assessment visits mounted by the Survey Technical Team. Ultimately, 15 out of the existing 24 border stations were selected purposively for the ICBT survey.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The Exports and Imports questionnaies consist of the following: HS Code (Office), Item Name, Quantity, Unit Code, Est. domestic price per unit, Country of Origin code, and Mode of Transport.

Cleaning operations

The questionnaires were edited in office by data editing staff.

This paper investigates the determinants of price discrimination in the rice market in one neighborhood of Lagos, Nigeria. There has been little empirical study of how ethnicity and class shape economic outcomes in informal market interactions. We conduct an audit experiment – one of the first audit experiments in Africa – seeking to address this gap. We experimentally manipulate class, with confederates presenting as different classes; this may be the first audit study to take this approach. This is also one of the first in-person audits to have multiple transactions for each buyer and seller, thus allowing for the use of buyer and seller fixed effects. We find little evidence that, all else equal, sharing an ethnicity on its own influences market treatment. Class, however, does have substantial effects, at least for non-coethnics. High class non-coethnics receive higher prices per unit than low class non-coethnics. Our findings suggest that the boundaries of group identity appear to be at least partially defined by class in the informal economy.

The informal sector in Kenya employed roughly 16.7 million individuals in 2023. This corresponded with roughly 83.5 percent of the total number of people employed in the country. Service activities absorbed most individuals engaged in the informal sector: 9.7 million worked in wholesale and retail trade, hotels, and restaurants. Manufacturing came next, being the source of employment for roughly 3.4 million Kenyans. Kenya’s urban informal economy Employment in the informal sector comprehends people working in informal enterprises, those not registered by the registrar of companies. This includes informal traders and artisans that produce goods and services meant for the market. As of 2019, Kenya had nearly five million informal enterprises, most of them located in urban areas. Wholesale and retail trade, as well as repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, made up the predominant activity, accounting for over 60 percent of the Kenyan informal establishments. Driver of employment generation The informal sector is critical for job creation in Kenya. It generated roughly 768 thousand new jobs in 2019, against 78.4 thousand created in the formal sector. In this scenario, informal businesses have become the main labor market entry for young Kenyans. As of 2019, individuals aged 18-34 years formed the majority of employees in informal enterprises in the country, with a nearly equal proportion between men and women.

Chapter 3 uses the 2016 FinAccess Household Survey of Kenya. The 2016 FinAccess survey is part of a series of nationally representative household surveys that measure access to and use of financial services among the adult population in Kenya.

Abstract

The Informal Cross Border Trade Qualitative Baseline Survey (ICBT) 2008 represented a normal market response to cumbersome documentations, time-consuming customs regulations and regional price distortions for border communities. It was a source of livelihood for both men and women at the border posts. While to government and other institutions such as URA and Police, ICBT regards the ICBT as a potential loss of revenue, illegal activity/disguised smuggling and a source of unfair competition to official traders and domestic producers.

It was observed that traders engage in ICBT as source of employment to earn income to cater for their families and buy cheap goods across the border points. The involvement in ICBT was also linked to the lucrative market opportunities offered by the counterparts in the bordering country. And on the other hand, high profit margins obtained ICBT activities was equally a driving force for engagement in the trade. The findings further indicate that the scarcity of food supplies in the neighboring countries could have encouraged people to participate in ICBT. The readily available market for agricultural commodities in Kenya, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania, together with the political stability and good relations existing between the Ugandans and her neighbors was mentioned as factors facilitating ICBT.

The overall objective of the ICBT qualitative survey was to generate baseline information on informal trading environment so as to inform policy and decision making process. In consultation with her stakeholders, UBOS conducted the Informal Cross Border Trade (ICBT) qualitative survey to understand the dynamics of informal trade and its implications on border communities. The survey sought to investigate issues regarding food security, access to financial services, marketing information, gender roles and general constraints to trade in terms of tariff and non-tariff barriers to informal trade activities. The specific objectives of the ICBT include: 1. Understanding the contribution of ICBT activities on border households/communities in terms of food security, income generation and family relations. 2. Understanding the factors that contribute to the continued ICBT activities at border posts 3. Investigating the gender aspects and vulnerable groups like children, PWDs involvement in informal trade transactions and the challenges faced. 4. Understanding how informal trade is organized, funded and its role in poverty reduction among the border communities. 5. Establishing the constraints to informal trade in terms of tariff and non- tariff barriers under EAC Customs Union

This study was conducted at the border posts of Busia located in Busia District, Mutukula in Rakai District, Mirama Hills in Ntungamo District and Mpondwe in Kasese District during the month of September 2008. These border posts were purposively selected with due considerations regarding the organization of trade, volume of business and diversity of countries that border Uganda.

Geographic coverage

Busia, Mutukula, Mirama Hills, and Mpondwe

Analysis unit

• Household
• Individual

Universe

The survey covered all households at the border posts that owned a business or businesses.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The listing of business households was done by enumerators to establish the number of existing households (population size) at selected border posts. This was done in a sequential manner to avoid omission or duplication while recording details regarding the household head, type and duration of business. The sampling frame was then generated from the list of business households upon which a sample was selected.

The selection of the business households was systematically done. The first sampling unit in the sample was selected using a random number and the remaining units were selected by the predetermined rule. After generating the sample frame to determine the population size, the sampling interval k was applied to select subsequent units. For instance, if the population size is N units and the required sample size is n, including y for substitution. We can then calculate the sampling Interval (k) as indicated in the report. The random start is a number where the interviewer starts with the sampling basing on the serial numbers. This number does not exceed the sampling interval and hence it would lie between 001 and 007 in our example above. Suppose the fifth (005) business household was selected as a random start using random numbers, the next to be selected will be (005+7) 12th, (012+7) 19th and so on to the last household in the sample.

The sample selection depended on the total population size (N) of the listed households. For example, due to the nature of business of Mutukula, we listed less than 350 business households but at the same time we had to consider the total sample for all the sampled borders in order to determine the size of the sample. In Mirama border post, all the 55 (N) business households listed were covered during enumeration. Systematic sampling was found to be cost effective owing to the linear settlement of the business households along the border posts. Follow-up and substitution of the non-response cases could be easily done. The identification and selection of the respondents to participants in the FGDs was done with assistance of local council leaders at the border post. On the other hand, the identification of Key informants and case studies was pre-determined or identified during FGDs.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The ICBT was comprised of the Qualitative Survey Questionnaire.

Cleaning operations

Data editing took place at a number of stages throughout the processing, including: - Office editing and coding - During data entry - Structure checking and completeness - Secondary editing - Structural checking of Stata data files

This data is from a study conducted on informal food retail in three of Ghana’s cities – Accra, Kumasi and Tamale. The aim of the survey is to gather information on the livelihoods of these traders, the challenges they face, and the governance constraints they encounter, especially those selling different types of food products. Interviews with 1,214 informal food vendors – 474 in Accra, 516 in Kumasi, and 310 in Tamale – across 4-7 markets in each city, allow for a better understanding of the role of informal food vendors as a key component of agricultural transformation and food security, while also examining how their treatment by government officials affects their own food security and their ability to facilitate agricultural transformation. The survey is split into 11 survey modules: Sampling (SA) – preliminary characteristics of the informal food trader General Information (ID) – basic demographic, educational and household background information Employment (EM) – details on current job Business (BS) – information on business management and the associated fees paid to operate Taxes and Fees (TX) – range of fees and taxes paid and the benefits received from those payments Government Engagement (GE) – type and level of interaction between government officials and food traders Food Safety and Food Security (FS) – awareness of food safety and source of personal food Service Delivery and Accountability (SD) – services offered in the market and who could best deliver them Public Participation and Associational Membership (PP) – involvement in different associations and participation in public and community affairs Household Welfare (HW) – details on household assets and services Final (FI) – enumerator observations

According to the latest data, the total number of establishments in the informal sector in Egypt aggregated to over 1.98 million between the period before 1960 to 2017. Since 1960, the number of unregistered establishments in the country increased until 2010. Besides, between 2005 and 2010, the number of informal sector enterprises significantly jumped from 238.6 thousand to 676.9 thousand. However, the number dropped drastically in 2015 to a level close to a decade before. The majority operated in the wholesale and retail trade.

Situation and problems of small businesses in Ghana. Topics: location and area of the business; year of founding and business founder; frequency of change of location and reasons; necessity for a loan when the business was founded; type of financial source and amount of financial aid received at the founding of the business; biggest problems at the beginning and selected strategies of solution; judgement on business performance; years with the greatest and least success and changes introduced since; judgement on current business situation as well as its duration; size of product range; detailed information on the four main products; type of buyers and origins of customers; change in regular customers; detailed information on the tools and machines used most; storekeeping; possible length of production with the materials in stock; changes in storekeeping compared to last year and type of difference; exchange of equipment and tools with other businesses in the area; sole owner of the business or part owner; personal partnership in other businesses; monthly business expenditures for materials, wages, electricity, water, rent and other costs; amount of monthly income in good and bad times; amount of investments up to now; value of the company if it were to be sold; willingness to take out a loan and financing sources used; granting credit to customers; passing work on to other companies or receipt of orders from other companies; detailed information on the number of employees; occupational structure of workers, trainees and family members active in the company at selected times of the company's existence; average time worked each week by employees; intent to hire; amount of monthly income for a full-time worker; problems in looking for qualified workers and trainees as well as reasons for these difficulties; duration of training and later employment of trainees; the number of former trainees that have started their own business; detailed information on business problems and judgement on them compared to last year as well as chosen strategies of solution; planned business expansion; assumed problems from a business expansion and possible strategies of solution; government aid received and type of this aid; association membership; association goals and aid received from the association to help solve problems; year the association was founded; reasons for not belonging to an association; earlier or present membership in a savings institution; amount of contributions and method of payment; ownership of account and type of account; year the account was opened; taking out a loan at one's own bank; book-keeping; regional origins; ethnic group affiliation; size of household; education level; employment in industry or in the government sector before founding the business; father's occupation; preference for employment in the formal or informal sector; information on the use of a particular amount of money for private or business purpose; registration of the business or interest in registering the business; advantages and disadvantages of registration. Additionally encoded were: the city and part of town in which the interview was conducted as well as the name of the interviewer.

Intra-regional fish trade has potential in addressing the region’s food and nutrition insecurity, as well as poverty reduction, by enabling movement of fish from countries of surplus to those with deficit. However, informal fish trade, just like all informal economic activities, has been overlooked and neglected in many national and regional policies, leading to obscurity of such an important part of the fisheries sector. This study examined the situation in the cross-border informal fish trade to deepen our understanding about the traders, the factors influencing the traders to use informal trade channels, the structure of the products traded and the challenges traders face, as well as propose policy direction to enhance the cross-border fish trade in the Southern Africa region. The study revealed that female traders dominated informal fish trade. In both Malawi and Zambia, an estimated 45,285.52 metric tonnes of fish valued at 82.14 million dollars and 102,263.9 metric tonnes of fish valued at 3.3 million dollars were informally traded. The key species involved in informal cross-border trade in Malawi and Zambia were the small pelagics, usipa (Engraulicypris sardella) from Lake Malawi and dagaa (Rastrineobola argentea) from Lake Tanganyika, respectively. It emerged from focus group discussions with informal fish traders and key informants’ interviews with border post fish inspection and revenue collection officials that traders are put off by the cross-border regulations. Therefore, it is important for countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region to regularize and formalize cross-border trade, particularly in small pelagic fish species, since this species plays a great role in the livelihoods, food and nutrition security of many people in the region, especially the rural and urban poor. It is also important for governments to support processors and traders to improve the quality of fish being traded, and decentralize issuing of the import/export certificates and other cross-border support documents. Lastly, there is a need to establish informal fish trade monitoring systems to adequately quantify the volumes traded.

In 2023, around 20 million people were employed in Kenya, this was an increase of some 900,000 individuals from the previous year. The employees belonged mostly to the informal sector. Roughly 16.7 million worked in informal conditions, whereas close to 3.3 million were employed in the formal sector. The informal sector constitutes an important part of the Kenyan economy, being related to employment creation, production, and income generation. Trends in the informal labor market and economic sectors The largest employment activities for people in the informal sector were in wholesale and retail trade, as well as hotels and restaurants, with 9.32 million people employed in these areas in 2022. Moreover, the hospitality sector in the country was the fastest-growing economic sector with a quarterly growth rate of 21.5 percent of the GDP. However, the largest economic sector as an added value to the GDP was the agricultural sector. Navigating unemployment challenges in Kenya Kenya’s unemployment rate is following a decreasing trend, which dropped below five percent at the end of 2022. However, unemployment among the youth in the same period was fairly high at 13.4 percent. The cohort with the highest level of unemployment was among the age group between 20 to 24 years old, with an unemployment rate of over 15 percent.

According to the latest data, the total number of informal establishments in Egypt aggregated to over 1.98 million from before 1960 to 2017. The majority of these establishments operated in the wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles category, specifically in the retail trade. Moreover, manufacturing and agriculture followed with around 281 thousand and 98 thousand different enterprises.

Abstract

The Kenya Informal Cross Border Trade is the Second round of ICBT surveys conducted in 2012. The ICBT was designed and implemented by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. It was designed to monitor informal cross border trade of commodities between countries.

Geographic coverage

National coverage.

Analysis unit

Individuals

Universe

The survey covered major entry border points in the country.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Cleaning operations

Data editing was done and tables generated. Details of data editing are provided in the external resources.