Walking in the Dark: informal Cross-border trade ... - International Alert

Walking in the Dark: Informal Cross-border Trade in the Great Lakes Region
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Contents
Executive Summary 4
1. Introduction 7
1.1 Context, rationale and objectives 7
1.2 Methodology 9
2. Profile of small traders 14
2.1 Education 14
2.2 The role of men and women 14
2.3 Age of small traders 15
2.4 Nationality of small traders 16
2.5 Civil status and household responsibilities 16
2.6 Associations 17
3. Analysis of small cross-border trade 18
3.1 Relative importance of small trade as a means of subsistence 18
3.2 Trade flows 20
4. Traders’ capital 22
4.1 Sources of capital 22
4.2 Start-up capital 22
4.3 Estimated profits of small cross-border trade 23
5. Taxation 25
5.1 Organisations for regional integration 26
5.2 Congolese taxes 27
5.3 Burundian taxes 31
5.4 Rwandan taxes 32
5.5 Ugandan taxes 33
6. Difficulties experienced by small traders 34
6.1 General difficulties 34
6.2 Difficulties experienced by women 34
6.3 Relations between small traders from the different countries 36
7. Informality: the “devil’s deal” 39
8. Conclusion and recommendations 42
8.1 Recommendations for governments in the region 43
8.2 Recommendations for external actors 45
8.3 Recommendations for regional economic institutions 46
Bibliography 48