Title: Re-theorising the role of the informal economy in Sub-Saharan Africa: some lessons from Gambia

Authors: Abdoulie Sallah; Colin C. Williams

Addresses: Business School, Staffordshire University, ST4 2DF, UK ' Sheffield University Management School, University of Sheffield, Conduit Road Sheffield S10 1FL, UK

Abstract: This paper aims to evaluate critically the rival representations of the role of the informal economy which is variously portrayed as a leftover from an earlier mode of production, a direct by-product of late capitalism, an alternative to the formal economy or a complement to formal work. Reporting evidence from a survey of 500 participants in Gambia, the finding is that although each and every representation of its role is valid in relation to particular populations and/or specific types of informal work, no one representation fully captures the diverse and multiple roles played by the informal economy in contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa. The consequent argument is that only by using all of them can a finer-grained and more comprehensive understanding of the multifarious roles of the informal economy be achieved. The outcome is a more multilayered and nuanced understanding of the role played by the informal economy in contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords: informal sector; economic development; livelihoods; Gambia; Sub-Saharan Africa; shadow economy; SSA.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2016.076641

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2016 Vol.28 No.2/3, pp.195 - 215

Received: 05 May 2015
Accepted: 11 Jun 2015
Published online: 18 May 2016 *

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