Growth in the Shadows: Sub-Saharan Africa’s Informal Economy
IMF Podcasts, June 28, 2017
Source details
- Canonical URL
- Growth in the Shadows: Sub-Saharan Africa’s Informal Economy
Other formats
Bibliographic details
- Published: June 28, 2017
Overview and context
- Publication date: June 28, 2017.
- The IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for sub-Saharan Africa includes a chapter on the informal economy.
- The episode features Ali Mansoor, IMF Division Chief for West Africa, as coauthor and interviewee.
- Production and presentation credits:
- Bruce Edwards, International Monetary Fund, producer of the IMF podcast program.
- Rhoda Metcalfe, independent journalist and audio producer.
Key findings and projections
- The IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook projects that by 2035 sub-Saharan Africa will have more working-age people than the rest of the world’s regions combined.
- Small, unregistered household businesses provide up to 90 percent of jobs outside of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa.
- The informal economy is described as a key component of most economies in sub-Saharan Africa.
Themes discussed in the episode
- The challenge of creating enough jobs to absorb a rapidly growing working-age population.
- The role of small unregistered household businesses in employment outside agriculture.
- Constraints on doing business in the region and implications for formalization and growth.