The informal sector in the labour reserve economies of Southern Africa with special reference to Zimbabwe

Abstract

This paper is written as a contribution to the research project in Zimbabwe on the informal sector. We have therefore written it in the absence of any detailed research on the subject. Our main purpose has been to raise both theoretical and policy issues we consider relevant to Zimbabwe. Although experiences elsewhere in the Third World may be useful to Zimbabwe, we have deliberately sought to narrow down the set of relevant experiences by highlighting the specificities of the historical experiences of the type of economies that Zimbabwe belongs to. A number of positions adopted in the paper may have to be rethought in light of more information. Hopefully the assertive and at times polemical way in which they have been stated will provoke response from other researchers and enhance our understanding of the informal sector in this country. Furthermore, it is our hope that our presentation will encourage a more sober attitude towards this sector and save Zimbabwean researchers and policy makers some of the euphoria that afflicted much of Africa at the "discovery" of the informal sector.