Tag: Informal economy

Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) play a central role in the economic development of many countries. They are a major source of entrepreneurial skills, innovation, ...

Surveys indicate that about 70-80 percent of informal traders are women. Women traders face gender based barriers at borders affecting potential for inclusive growth. It has also b...

When thinking about international trade, pictures of cargo ships carrying multi-coloured crates or large haulage trucks cruising along an empty highway are usually evoked. While th...

National WWF launches plastics report, encourages deeper collaboration to end pollution (Engineering News) All actors in the plastics value chain have a role to play in dealing w...

National Tax hikes and changes proposed for South Africa – including digital products and services (BusinessTech) South Africa is facing a significant shortfall in revenue coll...

The inaugural virtual meeting of the Kenya-US Free Trade Agreement Negotiations Secretariat took place today, Kenya’s CS Trade and Industry Betty Maina has announced. Ghana’s ...

Trudi Hartzenberg: Some reflections on Africa Day 2020, COVID-19 and the AfCFTA We will all remember Africa Day 2020. Africa Day, which we have been celebrating on 25 May each yea...

ECA leads discussion on Africa’s COVID-19 lockdown exit strategies (ECA) African countries are turning their attention to lockdown exit plans as they seek to limit economic and ...

A related tralac blog, in the same series as this one, discusses the phenomenon of informal cross-border trade (ICBT) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in the context of the current Covi...

Informal cross-border trade (ICBT) forms a significant part of intra Sub-Saharan African (SSA) trade. It contributes income, provides jobs and empowers women in some of the most fr...

Diarise: The 7th Annual East Africa International Arbitration Conference 2019 takes place on 29-30 August in Nairobi Featured African trade policy tweets: @AfricaMediaHu...

AfCFTA ratification update, from @ch_nji: “It’s done, Cameroon has ratified the AfCFTA today, 19 July 2019. Instrument of ratification to be deposited with the depository in th...

Joint AfDB, AUC, UNECA, Afreximbank expert group meeting on informal cross-border trade (16-17 April, Abidjan) Informal cross-border trade has remained a dilemma for the African c...

32nd Ordinary Session of the African Union: opening address by President Kagame The future of the global economy is digital. At this Summit, we will consider guidelines for a comm...

A new tralac Trade Brief: Intra-African trade – focusing on trade within Regional Economic Communities This paper gives an overview of the trade within the eight RECs recognised...

This Regional Gender Action Plan (RGAP) presents the broad approach that the Africa Region of the WBG will take to address gender inequality FY18-22. The RGAP is not intended to ...

The Nigeria chapter of the New Faces New Voices (NFNV), an initiative of the Graca Machel Trust, in partnership with the United Parcel Service, the US-headquartered global logistic...

The recent signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area in Kigali on 21 March 2018 marked a momentous occasion in trade policy discourse in Africa. The Agreement seeks to cre...

Forthcoming African trade and infrastructure events:   Pre-TICAD energy sector and Africa Investment Forum seminar (2 August, Tokyo) UNCTAD's The rise of Africa's Digital Li...

Small-scale cross-border trade can play a fundamental role in contributing to poverty reduction and food security across Africa. How can it be supported to ensure that it delivers ...