How technology is unlocking informal sector growth in Africa and India
Around the developing world, informal retail continues to be a powerful social force, employing millions of people who might otherwise not have jobs, driving economic activity in spaces that formal business has not penetrated, and providing essential goods and services for the under-served.
While technology is indeed disrupting the industry, this disruption is generally positive, providing more opportunities than challenges, and allowing informal retailers to realise some of the benefits of the modern trade on their own terms. This report explores the various new technologies at play in two of the world’s great informal economies – India and Africa – and how they are transforming the business practices of retailers and the lives of the communities in which they operate.
