Informal cross border trade (ICBT) in Tanzania

Outline 1. Overview 2. Tanzania’s informal economy 3. ICBT in Tanzania 4. General drivers of ICBT 5. Knowledge gaps 6. Way forward

Overview ICBT acts as a source of employment, income and livelihood. Women in SSA constitute between 60% to 70% (UN Women, 2009) The contribution of ICBT warrants attention from policy makers and practitioners Recent data on ICBT in Tanzania is limited

Informal economy in Tanzania ICBT forms part of the informal economy. The informal economy grew faster during the structural adjustment period. Today, one third of Tanzania’s working population is engaged in informal activities (ILFS, 2014). 50% of informal employment is in the trade & repairs sub-sector -employs 13% of women in the informal sector

ICBT in Tanzania ICBT presumably date back to the pre-colonial period, before the establishment of state boundaries There is hardly any documentation of ICBT in recent years Tanzania’s informal cross border exports were largely agricultural food commodities, fish, and forest resources (Ackello-Ogutu and Echessah, 1998)

Tanzania’s Informal Food Trade with the Neighbors (US$ millions) CountryImportsExports Kenya24.3 Uganda Zambia Malawi DRC*077.8 Mozambique Total

General drivers of ICBT Restrictive trade and economic policies such as import tariffs, quotas, export taxes, export bans (Ackello-Ogutu and Echessah, 1998) cost of doing business that is associated with meeting regulatory requirements and custom procedures

General drivers of ICBT (cont.) Long distances to domestic markets Limited access to finance Limited market information

Knowledge gaps Lack of recent data on ICBT in Tanzania Data requirement:  Who is actively engaged in ICBT and what is their nature of participation?  What type and volume of goods are informally traded across Tanzanian borders?  What are the major destinations of goods traded informally across Tanzania’s borders? and  What currently drives ICBT in the country?

Way forward collecting routine data at selected border posts in Tanzania Identifying the methodology for data collection Identification of particular skill sets required for data collection and analysis