We know little about how [African] markets operate in practice. Perhaps the best measure of this lack of knowledge is our propensity to call ‘‘informal’’ everything that is not of Western inspiration. The truth is that market activity in Africa is not without form; it is only without economic formalization.
This is Marcel Fafchamps . His book “Market Institutions in Sub Saharan Africa” pioneered a new way of viewing African local markets. He is a huge inspiration for our study in Kariobangi.
African market arrangements and institutions take many forms, and it would be misleading to lump them together into a single ‘‘informal sector.’’ [...] The problems that indigenous institutions attempt to solve are the usual ones—commitment failure, asymmetric information, and transactions costs—but the solutions often are original. African market realities are nothing but a transformed image of those in advanced countries. Studying markets in Africa forces us to rethink the very nature of markets.
I rarely post comments in blogs, but I needed to express how glad I am to have stumbled upon this blog. As an entrepreneur in Europe developing solutions to address problems specific to African economies, the quotes on your blog are very inspirational.
Above all, your work makes an effort not to over-simplify the realities in Africa. It addresses the problems with (for lack of better formulation) respect and dignity as problems on their merit in a very differentiated approach and not with a one-size fits all approach.
I would definitely come back to read your work very often and I am interested in the results