Brief

The Informal Economy and Growth

author(s) Gutiérrez Romero, R.
from UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
permalink open
themes
regions
  • Western Africa
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Africa
  • World
citation

iiG Briefing Paper 11, CSAE Economics Department, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, 2 pp

Publications and datasets provided via GARDIAN

Abstract

Recent iiG research and new data from Ghana show that carefully designed policies can increase the size of the informal economy. This would help to increase tax revenue and accelerate growth in Africa. Roughly half of the labour force in Africa is employed in the informal sector. Informal sector businesses and services do not pay taxes or comply with government regulation, meaning that governments are left with low tax revenue and workers have no access to pensions or health care. A number of policy recommendations are made

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