Search for Common Ground (Phase II)

Burundi, as other East African economies, has a large informal trade sector, non-integrated with the formal economy and large business. Informal trade across borders is most often important to rural livelihoods, managed by individuals with a daily profit of under $50 per day. A 2009 study by the African Trade Policy Centre shows that informal cross border traders across the region do not use available formal systems/structures for most of their transactions. This makes it difficult for regional trade policy initiatives such as those under the EAC and its Customs Union Protocol to have any significant impact on this informal trade. The traders show little evidence of knowledge regarding the EAC Customs Protocol and even less motivation to use it to facilitate trading activities.