The human side of regions:

Informal cross-border trade in southern Africa

Chris C. NshimbiCenter for the Study of Governance Innovation (GovInn)Department of Political SciencesUniversity of Pretoria

Outline

Introduction

Statement of the problem

Objectives

Research questions

Methods

Concepts and terms

Observations/Preliminary findings

The human side of regions: informal cross-border traders in southern Africa

Late 1980s and early 1990s: Economic and political reform in most of SADC

This, plus RISDP, Tariff Reduction Schedule and Trade Protocol, set conditions for establishment of FTA

Consequences of economic reform Massive retrenchments unemployment Collapse of some industrial sectors

Coupled with poor socioeconomic conditions Low levels of education High illiteracy levels Income inequalities poverty

Informal cross-border trades in southern Africa. Background

Growth triangle initiative – driven by need to reduce poverty in outlying areas of Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique

Idea imported from southeast Asia

Southeast Asian GTs enjoy: Strong government support Complementarities Trust-based networks of ethnic entrepreneurs – informality

characterizes activities in the networks

Point of departure: dynamic grassroots non-state actor networks in growth triangles

Informal cross-border trades in southern Africa. Statement of the problem

Informal sector in SSA has survived liberalization, is expanding

In southern Africa, and particularly ZMM-GT informal cross-border traders sharing common socioeconomic

characteristics e.g. language, culture, history + geographical proximity

If networks of grassroots non-state actors link actors with common socioeconomic characteristics, is transplanting GTs from Southeast Asia to southern Africa feasible?

Is the GT phenomenon replicable and able to contribute to regional integration in Southern Africa?

Informal cross-border trader in southern Africa. Statement of the problem

Overall, to determine feasibility of GT phenomenon in southern Africa. Specifically, to

establish the reality of informal cross-border trade and the dynamics of the networks of informal cross-border traders and grassroots non-state actors in the ZMM-GT,

determine, based on their cross-border activities, the role of informal or ethnic entrepreneurs and grassroots non-state actors in regional integration.

find out whether, how and the types of social services the informal actors can access across borders in the foreign countries they visit for business or other activities within ZMM-GT, and

determine a host country’s responses regarding service provision to foreign informal and ethnic entrepreneurs living or visiting that country on business.

Informal cross-border traders in southern Africa. Objectives

Overall: are GTs a feasible phenomenon in the Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique contiguous border areas? Specifically,

what activities cause grassroots non-state actors to cross borders in the contiguous areas of Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique into neighboring countries?

on what bases, if any, do informal cross-border traders and grassroots non-state actors form alliances with counterparts in neighboring ZMM-GT countries?

how do informal cross-border traders and grassroots non-state actors promote or hinder the integration of their respective countries, and the SADC region in general?

do informal cross-border traders or grassroots non-state actors make use of/seek any social services from establishments in neighboring countries when visiting?

are informal cross-border traders and grassroots non-state actors allowed to access social services as foreigners when visiting neighboring ZMM-GT countries? Which of such services can they access and how?

Informal cross-border traders in southern Africa. Research questions

Literature review

Fieldwork visits to 29 locations including selected border posts, major border towns in adjacent ZMM-GT provinces, markets and villages in the contiguous border areas of ZMM-GT

Participatory observations

Interviews (individual and group discussions)

Data analysis: qualitative and quantitative (IBM SPSS)

Informal cross-border traders in southern Africa. Methods

Regional economic integration- The market-led or trade integration paradigm in COMESA and SADC- Connotes the increased mobility of goods, services, capital, technology and labor across national

borders

Growth triangle- Integration at lower level –at least 2 economies- Territorial sub-subsystem - Geographical proximity- cross-border interactions and cooperation

Informal cross-border traders- Informally organized activities- Captured (or not) by public authorities - Activities are small scale and weakly organized but cross-border

social capital vs. social cohesion- Social capital – stocks of social trust, norms, and networks that people can draw upon to solve

common problems (Claridge, 2004)- Social cohesion – the bonding between people or groups, or in a metaphorical sense the bonding

substance, or ‘glue’, that binds people in positive relationships (Cloete and Kotze, 2009)- Elements of both were noticeable in relationships between informal cross-border traders in ZMM-

GT

Informal cross-border traders in southern Africa. Concepts and terms

Porous borders

Informal cross-border traders in southern Africa. Observations/ Preliminary findings

Informal cross-border traders in southern Africa. Gendered sector?

Informal cross-border traders in southern Africa. Descriptive statistics

Informal cross-border traders in southern Africa. Descriptive statistics

Informal cross-border traders in southern Africa. Goods traded

Informal cross-border traders southern Africa. Social services abroad

Informal cross-border traders southern Africa. Social services abroad

Informal cross-border traders in southern Africa. Informal cross-border

trader problematic