Date: Thursday, 01 December 2022

Time: 17:30 - 19:00 (GMT/UTC +2)

Registration: Click here

The vast majority of Africa’s population works in the informal sector, whether as business owners, small traders, casual employees, or farmers. For decades, supranational institutions and individual national governments have sought to reduce informality, arguing that formalisation will benefit these actors by offering access to state support and public goods. Others argue that formalisation will simply stifle the most vibrant part of the economy and be a burden to entrepreneurs. Our distinguished panel explores the various sides of this controversy.

Hosting the webinar are Prof. Rajneesh Narula, DAC Director and Professor of International Business Regulation at Henley UK, and Jon Foster-Pedley, Dean and Director of Henley Business School Africa. They will engage our speakers in active discussion around the continent’s opportunities and challenges:

Muhammad Sani Abdullahi has over a decade of experience in development policy formulation, public finance and project implementation. A development economist, he previously served as a policy advisor at the Executive Office of UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon in New York. Marcus M. Larsen is also adjunct professor at BI Norwegian Business School. His research interests include international business, strategy, and organisational design. Rebecca Namatovu’s research focuses on entrepreneurship mechanisms associated with informality, poverty, inequality, post-conflict, and sustainability in Africa. She was previously a senior lecturer at Makerere University in Uganda.

Don’t miss out on this important economic discussion at the forefront of African business development. 

We discussed whether Africa is on the brink of a global recession or simply in a slowdown in the wake of the global pandemic. Our invited experts weighed in on how a recession may affect the competitiveness of Africa’s business sector and how this may vary by industry and country. Click here to watch the discussion.

Join us in 2023 every first Thursday of the month for a new webinar

Creating a platform for intelligent debate around what really matters for African business. Henley’s Dunning Africa Centre isn’t a place, it’s a continent-wide conversation.