Paper short abstract:

This presentation explores the results of a major survey of migrant entrepreneurs in Cape Town’s informal food economy, focusing on the role that exclusion potentially plays in their involvement in informality and the implications that that might have for the design of more inclusive policies.

Paper long abstract:

Cape Town, South Africa, has made significant strides in introducing inclusive policies for informal trading, suggesting that it can, in many ways, be used as a model for other cities in the Global South that seek more accommodating approaches to informal economic activity. If it is to provide a truly supportive environment for informal workers, however, significant progress still needs to be made. This presentation explores one dimension of this reality by focusing on the experiences of migrant entrepreneurs in the city’s informal food economy. Examining the results of a major survey of 450 migrant informal food economy entrepreneurs undertaken in 2021 and 2022, it highlights the forms of exclusion the migrant entrepreneurs face, exploring the extent to which these serve as a driver for informality. In doing so, it contributes to longstanding debates about the origins of informal economic activity by considering the interaction of institutions, policy design and personal motivation amongst a group that faces unique obstacles to participation in the formal economy. It uses these insights to consider what more inclusive policy approaches might look like, emphasizing that these must address the barriers that informal workers, regardless of their migration status, identify as important. It is only when this is done that Cape Town can fulfill the promise of economic inclusion for some of its most vulnerable residents, and thus serve as an example of inclusive policy approaches to informal economic activity that others can emulate.