Paper short abstract:

In Ghana, local governments (e.g. AMA) have been legally sanctioned to have control over their jurisdictions. However, in the AMA, informal actors appear to have more control over informal traders in Accra than the officially sanctioned institutions due to the power struggle in the jurisdiction

Paper long abstract:

The data shows that 89 per cent of the currently employed population, in Ghana 15 years and older are in the informal sector. In the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), the informal sector accounts for 80 per cent of the economically active population: the informal sector in AMA employs about 64 per cent of men and 82 per cent of women (AMA, 2019). Despite the importance of the informal economy, especially informal trading to employment and livelihoods, traders in Ghanaian urban areas such as Accra face considerable obstacles and challenges in pursuing their livelihoods. Using a political settlement approach, this study seeks to examine the intersection between bylaws, institutions, and local actors and how they impact informal traders in Accra. A multiplicity of methodological approaches was adopted for this study. First, in-depth interviews were conducted with fifteen officials of the AMA who provided information on the regulatory frameworks for informal markets. Second, four focus group discussions made up of seven discussants were conducted with informal traders. Lastly, all the AMA bylaws pertaining to the market were reviewed. The findings showed that informal traders in Accra stacked in the middle of local government bylaws, institutional overlap, and more importantly power struggle among the various actors in the AMA jurisdictional space. The findings give an indication that whereas the AMA appears to have control over markets, informal traders joggle daily rather with several powerful informal actors.