Regardless of continent, it is now high time we accepted the informal economy (unformal or unrecognised or unorganized sectors) as a commercial operating environment in its own right. The continued oversight is rapidly coalescing into a gaping void of hiccups and failures, by large companies, non profit institutions, and startups, alike. This issue goes far… Read More »
I was in New Delhi for just over a week at the beginning of June, visiting after a period of 3 years, and so many things caught my attention that I thought I’d do a round up of my observations, just like I did 10 years ago. Systems implemented and working. The impact may not… Read More »
Dung cakes provide free fuel for the rural housewife (photo credit: Goverdhan Meena) While the internal rate of return (IRR) of a cow may certainly be in the high negative numbers, per the recent Economist note on research, there are other elements of the cost/benefit analysis that also need to be taken into account when… Read More »
ClubOrlov has a guest post from a small Mayan fishing village in Mexico by a writer only known as Albert, who observes this informal economic activity and its players closely: What struck me is that I cannot recall a time in the past decade that I have been observing these vendors when there were more… Read More »
The World Bank’s Wolfgang Fengler has recently written a blogpost titled “Learning from the Kenyan revolution” referencing the penetration and use of not only ICT devices but also mobile money services. He makes optimistic predictions for the futures, viz., What are the lessons of Kenya’s ICT revolution for the broader economy of Kenya and for… Read More »
Charcoal seller Margaret Nyambura, a widowed mother of four, used Sh100 we had given her to shop for food and household goods that would last her family three days. Her priority was cooking oil and maize flour, which cost her Sh20 and Sh10 respectively. Each was measured in portions to fit her money. She bought… Read More »
Surging food prices are being widely reported in India this month. I’ve been asking female informants and neighbours at Dharavi how they are managing the pressure on household expenses.