Assessing the contribution of informal cross-border trade to regional integration in the Southern African Development Community using Social Networking Analysis (SNA)
A majority of people within the SADC region pursue informal cross-border trade because of its socio-economic development impacts. The objectives of the study are to; a) examine the nature and dynamics of informal cross-border trading activities in selected Southern African Development Community (SADC) border regions; b) assess the extent to which SADC regional trade policies promote ICBT in the study areas; c) map and assess using social networking analysis, the contribution of informal cross border traders’ activities to regional integration in the Southern African Development Community and d) propose strategies for enhancing the role of ICBT in regional integration in the study area. To achieve these objectives, the researcher deployed a qualitative research methodology, and the data was collected using interviews and observations. The data was analysed following strategies of qualitative data analysis which are thematic analysis and social networking analysis. Social networking analysis was also done by using the collected data to demonstrate the role played by ICBTs in contributing to regional integration. The results show that most people engage in informal cross-border trading due to drivers such as unemployment, lack of skills, and poverty. They buy and sell a variety of goods. The SNA showed that ICBT leads to regional integration from below because the ICBTs frequently travel across borders to purchase goods and resell them at their countries of origin, therefore, economic integration between the countries involved is manifested. Based on this, it is recommended that SADC countries must recognize the importance of ICBTs by implementing policies or revisiting existing policies that demonstrate exclusiveness rather than inclusiveness of the ICBTs. Such policies already implemented include the SADC Trade Protocol which presently appears to promote formal actors like registered businesses which fit in well with the neoclassical theory of regional integration. SADC countries must also limit the application of stringent border controls at the borders by implementing regulations that apply equally to both the formal and informal traders. In addition, the SADC governments, policymakers, and other stakeholders must inform/educate border officials about the regional trade policies implemented, so that they can understand the situation and contribution of cross-border traders and ensure that they treat the traders with fairness and dignity, without enforcing acts of corruption at the border.
Informal cross-border trade, Southern African Development Community, Social Networking Analysis (SNA)
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