Short Abstract:

The panel calls for papers on the multidimensional manifestation of informal finance, decent work and the link between them. The central proposition is that informal finance is inevitable in the creation of pro-poor development and growth, and engendering of decent work.

Long Abstract:

The proposed panel invites papers on informal finance development, decent work and how informal finance development can facilitate access to decent work. Despite the rapid increases in financial inclusion, many people remain outside the ambit of formal finance. One of the drivers of financial inclusion in Africa is digital finance, which manifests itself in informal ways. Mobile money, rotating savings and credit associations, financial self-help savings groups and money lenders have become dominant and vital sources of finance for many households and small and micro businesses. As a result, informal finance plays a critical role in allowing workers in the informal sector to take advantage of investment opportunities and possibilities of access to decent work. Because characteristics of informal workers and businesses largely exclude them from formal finance, the co-existence of informal finance and informal work is inevitable. Relatedly, the inevitable interaction of formal and informal finance results in complex manifestations of business models in both finance and informal work. Added, to this the promotion of decent work especially within the ambit of informality may potentially aid the development of such a sector including aspects of commerce. The panel, therefore, also invites papers that investigate how informal finance compares to formal finance in its ability to adapt to the characteristics of informal businesses and workers' access to decent work.