Is the informal economy in Sub-Saharan Africa organized? And if so, how? 7.2.3 Organizational features: size – age – geographic coverage Groups’ membership size and geographic outreach have a considerable influence on the way they organize their operations. A membership size of 100 to 150 individuals may still be small enough to ensure a sufficient level of so­cial cohesion as a basis for democratic governance. Larger groups may have to rely on indirect governance structures (such as delegates elected by certain categories of members), which ensure efficiency, but weaken identity. Smaller groups can assess the needs of members by examining individual cases, while larger groups are more likely to enforce rules­based regimes and may be less inclined or able to consider individual cases. Informal-economy groups are generally small in membership size. In all survey countries, 70 per cent or more of all groups count 100 members or fewer(Figure 7.3). No more than 3.3 per cent(Côte d’Ivoire) and 6.2 per cent(Kenya) of all groups are large organizations with more than 1,000 members. The extent of a group’s geographic coverage has an impact on the strength of the common bond and the vibrancy of the shared identity that unites its members. One can assume that this bond is stronger in groups that cover just a market or a village than in those that operate in a larger province or even the entire nation. Figure 7.4 shows that two-thirds of all groups cover just one market or a village. This is consistent with the groups’ relatively small membership size(see above). The great ma­jority of informal-economy groups in the six countries are locally rooted. What is surprising is the relatively large share of groups claiming that they cover the entire nation(14.1 per cent on average, rising to 35.5 per cent in Zambia). Religious groups, neighbourhood associations, ROSCAs, cooperatives and credit unions characteristically cover no more than a certain administrative unit, or a population group within an administrative unit. Trade unions, professional organizations and political parties are likely to operate nationwide, but their cumulative share in the group typology is just 8.6 per cent(6.9 per cent in Zambia). The high share of groups op­erating nationwide in Zambia could perhaps be explained by the high share of religious groups(44.1 per cent) in this country; religious groups represent a particular faith that is present in most cases throughout the country. It might be possible that some respondents, when answering this question, considered the outreach of the faith rather than the coverage of the religious group to which they belong. One can assume that the longevity of an informal economy group can serve as a proxy indicator for its performance and stability; one would further expect that groups emerging in the informal economy have a rather low survival rate because they rarely get any government support, and they are often managed or led by individuals with a low level of education. The survey showed the latter assumption to be false, how­ever: across all six countries and all types almost half(49.6 per cent) are more than five years old. Figure 7.5 provides further details. In all six countries, religious groups have the highest»life-­expectancy«, followed by cooperatives and savings clubs (Table 7.1); the longevity of religious associations may be due to the fact that they are solidly rooted in their commu­nities, based on a strong sense of shared identity, and often contribute to social security. 4 No explanation could be found for the exceptional longevity of religious groups in Zambia, however, compared with the other four countries. Almost 4 As Bompani(2011: 2) observed:»Religion-driven charitable contri­butions have been and remain a critical source of welfare and reli­gious organisations remain the most significant non-state providers of basic social services to the poor in Africa. Faith-based organisations (FBOs) expanded or proliferated as a result of economic neo-liberalism as the faithful responded to growing poverty, inequality and social ­exclusion.« Figure 7.3 Membership size of groups 70% 60% 64.3% 53.0% 50.8% 23.1% 24.2% 9.4% 15.4% 14.4% 23.1% 35.1% 19.3% 12.0% 24.6% 24.8% 30.7% 38.7% 34.8% 40.1% 50% 40% 30% 5.1% 4.1% 6.2% 3.4% 3.3% 3.2% 1.9% 12.4% 8.0% 3.6% 6.7% 4.3% 20% 10% 0% Less than 10 10 to 50 51 to 100 101 to 1.000 Above 1.000 Senegal Zambia Kenya Benin Côte d'Ivoire Ethiopia 61