The informal economy in the sector of mobile telephony in Ivory Coast: Survey of the productive and social role of an original activity

Abstract

In an era of information marked by the intensive use of means of telecommunication, the mobile phone constitutes an ideal tool for the management of mobility in space and time. In some developing countries like the Ivory Coast, it plays in addition to its general function, an original and major productive and social function. In fact, the advent of the mobile telephony has quickly constituted a new source of informal activities for the economies of these countries that traditionally function on the basis of dualism (formal and informal sectors). Although not complying with any formal administrative requirement, technically easy to implement and spatially very flexible to practice, the economic model issued from this activity has radically changed the mobile telecommunication sector in the Ivory Coast. This particularly dynamic sector generates numerous small jobs and substantial revenue for all persons exercising it. This article not only explains factors responsible for its emergence, but also describes the mechanism of its functioning as well as its economic, social and geographic implications.