The informal markets of Africa are stereotypically seen as chaotic and lackadaisical. The downside of hearing the word "informal" is this automatic grand association we have, which is very negative, and it's had significant consequences and economic losses, easily adding -- or subtracting -- 40 to 60 percent of the profit margin for the informal markets alone. As part of a task of mapping the informal trade ecosystem, we've done an extensive literature review of all the reports and research on cross-border trade in East Africa, going back 20 years. This was to prepare us for fieldwork to understand what was the problem, what was holding back informal trade in the informal sector.
Masoko ya Afrika yasiyo rasmi huwekewa kasumba kwa kuonekana vile yana kasheshe na goigoi. Ubaya wa kusikia neno "yasiyo rasmi" hutokana na jumuiya inayojiendesha ya misaada tuliyonayo, ambayo ina mitazamo hasi sana, na ilikuwa na madhara makubwa katika kuanguka kwa uchumi, kuongeza kirahisi -- au kupunguza -- asilimia 40 hadi 60 ya ukomo wa faida kwa masoko yasiyo rasmi pekee. Ikiwa moja ya jukumu la kuweka ramani ya mzunguko wa biashara zisizo rasmi, tumetengeneza machapisho kwa kina ya ripoti zote na tafiti kwenye biashara za mipakani katika ukanda wa Afrika Mashariki, tukirudi nyuma hadi miaka 20. Hii ilikuwa ni kwa ajili ya kutuandaa kwa ajili ya kazi ya kwenda kutathmini tatizo ni nini, kipi kilichokuwa kinarudisha nyuma biashara isiyo rasmi katika sekta isiyo rasmi.
What we discovered over the last 20 years was, nobody had distinguished between illicit -- which is like smuggling or contraband in the informal sector -- from the legal but unrecorded, such as tomatoes, oranges, fruit. This criminalization -- what in Swahili refers to as "biashara," which is the trade or the commerce, versus "magendo," which is the smuggling or contraband -- this criminalization of the informal sector, in English, by not distinguishing between these aspects, easily can cost each African economy between 60 to 80 percent addition on the annual GDP growth rate, because we are not recognizing the engine of what keeps the economies running.
Tulichogundua katika miaka 20 iliyopita ni kwamba, hakuna aliyeweza kutofautisha kati ya magendo -- ambayo ni sawa na upenyeshaji mali isiyo halali au iliyopigwa marufuku katika sekta isiyo rasmi -- na mali halali ambayo haikuwekwa katika kumbukumbu kama nyanya, machungwa, matunda. Uhalifu huu -- ambao kwa kiswahili unafahamika kama "biashara," ambao ni biashara, ukilinganisha na "magendo", ambayo upenyeshaji bidhaa usio halali -- uhalifu katika sekta isiyo rasmi, kwa Kiingereza, bila kutofautisha nyanja hizi, kwa urahisi inaweza kugharimu kila uchumi wa Afrika kati ya asilimia 60 hadi 80 ukiongezea katika ukuaji wa pato la taifa kwa mwaka, kwa sababu hatujambua injini inayofanya uchumi kuendelea.
The informal sector is growing jobs at four times the rate of the traditional formal economy, or "modern" economy, as many call it. It offers employment and income generation opportunities to the most "unskilled" in conventional disciplines. But can you make a french fry machine out of an old car?
Sekta isiyo rasmi inaongeza ajira mara nne katika kiasi cha uchumi ulio rasmi, au uchumi wa "kisasa", kama wengi wauitavyo. Hutoa nafasi za ajira na kuweza kujipatia kipato kwa wale wengi ambao hawana "ujuzi wa darasani" katika nyanja mbalimbali za taaluma. Lakini, je unaweza kutengeneza mashine ya kukaanga chipsi kutokana na gari bovu?
So, this, ladies and gentlemen, is what so desperately needs to be recognized. As long as the current assumptions hold that this is criminal, this is shadow, this is illegal, there will be no attempt at integrating the informal economic ecosystem with the formal or even the global one.
Kwa hiyo, hili, mabibi na mabwana, ni jambo ambalo linatakiwa kutambuliwa kwa shauku kubwa. Ambapo mtazamo wa sasa uliopo kuhusu sekta hii ni uhalifu, hiki ni kivuli, hii si halali, hakutakiwa na madhumuni ya kuunganisha mzunguko wa uchumi usio rasmi na ule ulio rasmi au hata ule wa kiulimwengu.
I'm going to tell you a story of Teresia, a trader who overturned all our assumptions, made us question all the stereotypes that we'd gone in on, based on 20 years of literature review. Teresia sells clothes under a tree in a town called Malaba, on the border of Uganda and Kenya. You think it's very simple, don't you? We'll go hang up new clothes from the branches, put out the tarp, settle down, wait for customers, and there we have it. She was everything we were expecting according to the literature, to the research, right down to she was a single mom driven to trade, supporting her kids.
Nitawaeleza hadithi inayomuhusu Teresia, mfanyabiashara ambaye anapindua mitazamo yetu yote, anatufanya kuhoji kasumba zetu zote tulizokuwa nazo, ukihusisha na ripoti ya miaka 20 nyuma. Teresia anauza nguo chini ya mti katika mji unaoitwa Malaba, katika mpaka wa Uganda na Kenya. Unadhani ni rahisi sana, au sivyo? Tutakwenda ning'iniza nguo mpya kwenye matawi, tutatandika turubai, kisha kuketi chini, kusubiri wateja, na hivyo ndivyo inakuwa. Alikuwa ni mtu ambaye tuliona anarandana na yale yaliyomo katika ripoti, katika tafiti, alikuwa ni mama mjane anayefanya biashara, akilea watoto wake.
So what overturned our assumptions? What surprised us? First, Teresia paid the county government market fees every single working day for the privilege of setting up shop under her tree. She's been doing it for seven years, and she's been getting receipts. She keeps records. We're seeing not a marginal, underprivileged, vulnerable African woman trader by the side of the road -- no. We were seeing somebody who's keeping sales records for years; somebody who had an entire ecosystem of retail that comes in from Uganda to pick up inventory; someone who's got handcarts bringing the goods in, or the mobile money agent who comes to collect cash at the end of the evening. Can you guess how much Teresia spends, on average, each month on inventory -- stocks of new clothes that she gets from Nairobi? One thousand five hundred US dollars. That's around 20,000 US dollars invested in trade goods and services every year. This is Teresia, the invisible one, the hidden middle.
Ni kipi kilibadili udhanifu wetu? Kipi kilitushangaza? Kwanza, Teresia analipia kodi ya serikali ya soko la mkoa kila siku anayofanya biashara kutokana na kuweka biashara chini ya mti wake. Amekuwa akifanya hivi kwa miaka saba, na amekuwa akipewa risiti. Anatunza kumbumkumbu. Tunamuona asiye hafifu, masikini, mwanamke asiye na uwezo anayefanya biashara pembezoni mwa barabara -- hapana. Tunamuona mfanyabiashara ambaye anatunza kumbukumbu za mauzo kwa miaka; mtu ambaye amekuwa na mzunguko wote wa biashara za rejareja zitokazo Uganda hadi orodha ya uchukuaji; aliye na mkokoteni unaoleta bidhaa, au wakala wa mfumo wa fedha wa simu anayekuja kuchukua pesa taslimu kila mwisho wa jioni. Unaweza kisia ni kiasi gani Teresia hutumia, kwa wastani, kila mwezi katika uorodheshaji bidhaa -- shehena ya nguo mpya ambazo anapata kutoka Nairobi? Dola za Kimarekani elfu moja na mia tano. Ambayo ni takribani dola za Kimarekani 20,000 zilizowekezwa kwenye katika bidhaa za biashara na huduma kila mwaka. Huyu ni Teresia, asiyeonekana, aliyefichwa katikati.
And she's only the first rung of the small entrepreneurs, the micro-businesses that can be found in these market towns. At least in the larger Malaba border, she's at the first rung. The people further up the value chain are easily running three lines of business, investing 2,500 to 3,000 US dollars every month. So the problem turned out that it wasn't the criminalization; you can't really criminalize someone you're charging receipts from. It's the lack of recognition of their skilled occupations. The bank systems and structures have no means to recognize them as micro-businesses, much less the fact that, you know, her tree doesn't have a forwarding address.
Na huyu ni mtu wa ngazi ya kwanza ya wajasiriamali wadogo, biashara ndogo ndogo zinazopatikana katika masoko ya ya miji hii. Angalau katika mpaka mkubwa wa Malaba, yupo katika ngazi ya kwanza. Watu wa mbele zaidi wanathamini mlolongo huu na kwa rahisi wanafanya biashara tatu, wakiwekeza dola za Kimarekani kati ya 2500 hadi 3000 kila mwezi. Kwa hiyo tatizo lilikuja gundulika kwamba halikuwa uhalifu; huwezi kumtuhumu mtu ambaye unamtoza na kumpa risiti. Ni ukosefu wa kutambua ujuzi wa kazi zao. Mifumo ya kibenki haina njia ya kuwatambua kama wafanyabiashara ndogo ndogo. pasipo kukataa ukweli, unajua, mti wake hauna anuani.
So she's trapped in the middle. She's falling through the cracks of our assumptions. You know all those microloans to help African women traders? They're going to loan her 50 dollars or 100 dollars. What's she going to do with it? She spends 10 times that amount every month just on inventory -- we're not talking about the additional services or the support ecosystem. These are the ones who fit neither the policy stereotype of the low-skilled and the marginalized, nor the white-collar, salaried office worker or civil servant with a pension that the middle classes are allegedly composed of.
Kwa hiyo amebanwa katikati. Anaangukia katika mpasuko wa dhana zetu. Unaijua ile mikopo midogo midogo ya kusaidia wanawake wa Kiafrika ambao ni wafanyabiashara? Watampa mkopo wa dola za Kimarekani 50 au 100. Atafanyia nini kiasi hiki? Anatumia mara 10 ya kiasi hicho kila mwezi katika uorodheshaji tu. hatuongelei huduma nyingine za ziada au mzunguko wote. Hawa ni wale ambao hawastahili kuwepo katika kasumba ya sera ya walio na ujuzi mdogo au wale duni, wala si mwajiriwa, ofisa anayelipwa mshahara au mtumishi aliye na pensheni ambapo ndipo watu wa kipato cha kati walipo.
Instead, what we have here are the proto-SMEs these are the fertile seeds of businesses and enterprises that keep the engines running. They put food on your table. Even here in this hotel, the invisible ones -- the butchers, the bakers the candlestick makers -- they make the machines that make your french fries and they make your beds. These are the invisible businesswomen trading across borders, all on the side of the road, and so they're invisible to data gatherers. And they're mashed together with the vast informal sector that doesn't bother to distinguish between smugglers and tax evaders and those running illegal whatnot, and the ladies who trade, and who put food on the table and send their kids to university.
Badala yake, tulichonacho hapa ni mifano ya viwanda vidogo na vya kati hizi ni mbegu zilizo na rutuba za biashara na viwanda ambazo zinafanya injini iendelee kutembea. Vinaleta chakula mezani. Hata hapa katika hotel hii, wasioonekana -- wachinjaji nyama, watengeneza mikate na watengeneza mishumaa -- wanatengeneza mashine ambazo zinatengeneza chipsi na wanatengeneza vitanda vyako, Hawa ni wanawake ambao hawaonekani wanaofanya biashara mipakani, pembezoni mwa barabara, hawaonekani kwa watu wanaokusanya taarifa. Na wanawekwa pamoja katika sekta kubwa isiyo rasmi ambayo haihangaiki kutofautisha watu wanaopenyesha bidhaa na wakwepa kodi na wale wanaofanya biashara za magendo, na wanawake wanaofanya bashara, na wale wanaoleta chakula mezani na kuwasomesha watoto zao hadi chuo kikuu
So that's really what I'm asking here. That's all that we need to start by doing. Can we start by recognizing the skills, the occupations? We could transform the informal economy by beginning with this recognition and then designing the customized doorways for them to enter or integrate with the formal, with the global, with the entire system.
Kwa hiyo hili ndilo ninalouliza hapa. Hayo ndiyo tunatakiwa kuanza kufanya. Je tunaweza kuanza kwa kutambua ujuzi, kazi? Tunaweza kubadili uchumi wa sekta isiyo rasmi kwa kuanza na utambuzi huu na kisha kutengeneza milango ya wao kupita na kushirikiana na sekta iliyo rasmi, na ulimwengu, na mfumo mzima.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
Asante, mabibi na mabwana.
(Applause)
(Makofi)