Development Without Borders? Informal Cross-Border Trade in Africa

Abstract

The goal of this chapter is to illustrate the role of informal cross-border trade in African economies While the role of cross-border trade is substantial, it is often unrecorded in official trade statistics, pointing out a rather loud criticism of the formal sector in the sustaining of Africa’s economies Perhaps, a much more pointed study focusing on informal cross-border trade (ICBT) offers an interrogation of the driving factors and the consequences Therefore, this chapter seeks to explore why and how Africans engage in informal cross-border trade The significance of this chapter is, first, to highlight the untapped potential of ICBT and the ingenuity of its practitioners as well as their resilience in a way that can draw benefits of open markets and free movement of labor Second, the chapter sheds light on the survivalist systems taking shape in most African countries in the neoliberal era characterized by shrinking welfare and limited employment Lastly, it highlights the challenges of ICBT on the development of formalized markets in Africa and the apparent failure of states to regulate cross-border trade Fundamentally, the chapter contributes to the discussion of African political economy by introducing the role of people in villages and small towns in the frontiers of states and how their economic disenfranchisement poses problems for the economic sanity of states at the major cities