Is the informal economy in Sub-Saharan Africa organized? And if so, how? Table 7.1 Median age of groups Country Senegal Zambia Kenya Benin Côte d’Ivoire Ethiopia Average Religious group 10 20 10  6  8 10 10 Median age of informal-economy groups in years Cooperative (not including credit unions) Savings club 5 4 5 1 8 3 6 4 6 2 5 2 6 3 Neighbourhood association  5  2 n.a. n.a.  4 10  5 All groups  7  6  4  5  5 10  6 Figure 7.6 Affiliation with higher-level structures 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 90.3% 9.7% Senegal 64.9% 35.1% Zambia 85.8% 14.2% Kenya 91.4% 86.2% 8.6% Benin 13.8% Côte d'Ivoire 93.8% 85.4% 6.3% 14.6% Ethiopia 6-country average Belongs to a higher-level structure Does not belong to a higher-level structure affiliated groups’ bargaining power and political clout; they can also generate economies of scale and scope when they carry out business operations. As shown in Figure 7.6, only a minority of primary ­informal-economy groups belong to a higher-level structure. In Kenya and Zambia, one can assume that most cooper­atives and credit unions are affiliated with their respective apex organizations, namely CAK and KUSCCO(Kenya), and ZCF and NASCU(Zambia). Such apex bodies do not exist in Ethiopia and in the three French-speaking countries(with the exception of the national association of savings and credit cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire, UNACOOPEC-CI). Trade unions and mutual benefit groups are typically affiliated with a national federation, but the percentage of these two categories among all informal-economy groups is very small (see Figure 7.2). 7.2.5 How»formal« are the groups? Informal-economy groups, associations and cooperatives can build a bridge between a country’s formal and informal economies, provided they are officially registered and/or recognized. In that case, the group enters the realm of the formal economy, while its members remain in the informal. 5 The survey concluded that well over half of all groups in the two English-speaking countries(Kenya and Zambia) pos­sess an official registration certificate, while this proportion drops to one quarter in the French-speaking countries. The difference may be due, at least partly, to the fact that the French-speaking countries have inherited the centralized administrative system prevailing in France, which means that people living outside the national capital may find it costly and cumbersome to register their group. Moreover, the proportion of groups that are registered depends on their type: ROSCAs and religious groups may not need(or desire) to register, while cooperatives and credit unions must necessarily register so as to be able to function. And thirdly, some groups may avoid registering because this may entail the payment of taxes and other duties. Those groups are likely to fall into the grey area of being recognized, but not registered. Moreover, it can be assumed that informal economy groups that keep accounts are more»formal« than those that do not. Certain categories of groups, such as cooperatives and credit unions, are obliged by law to keep accounts, while one would assume that others, such as religious associations, which do not carry out any financial transactions, would not see the need to keep accounts. The survey revealed that in all six countries, over 70 per cent of the respondents de­5 For example: most motorcycle-taxi drivers in Cotonou, Benin, are members of a professional association. The association’s chair repre­sents the members vis-à-vis the police, local authorities and insurance companies, which are hardly accessible to the individual taxi drivers, many of whom are illiterate. 63