The Power of the Informal Economy

Just as the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa must function in a nation-state governance model their European colonizers imposed on them, they must participate in a global economy that is not of their design. Interestingly, today's digital tools are facilitating a sharing economy that has long existed in Africa.
Watch this video for some examples.

As we saw in the Amazon rainforest, indigenous communities have much to teach outsiders about conserving their valuable resources. Age-old practices from people who traded in the marketplaces of West Africa and Nigeria offer many lessons for today's global economy.

Examples from a "bottom-down economy" point to ways we can alleviate income inequalities that have resulted from "top-up capitalism."

The map in Figure 4.13 in Unit 4 illustrates Robert Neuwirth's observation that .003 percent of the Nigerian population controls one-fourth of Nigeria's GDP. Meanwhile, .01 percent of the Kenyan population controls three-fourths of Kenya's GDP.

Many of Sub-Saharan Africa's countries have the highest Gini coefficients in the world. For example, the Gini coefficients for Botswana, Lesotho, and South Africa are greater than 60. Colombia has the highest Gini coefficient in Middle and South America at 53.5