Read the latest positive news, breakthroughs, and inspiring stories about informal economy, curated daily by BrightWire.
Don Pedro wakes at 3 a.m. daily to sell traditional Mexican street corn in Mexico City's trendy Condesa neighborhood, following his father's entrepreneurial footsteps. His family business now thrives in a location he's worked for four decades, representing millions of informal economy workers building better lives.
Nigeria's pension commission is launching a bold plan to bring retirement security to millions of workers in the informal economy who currently have no safety net. Only 9% of Nigerian adults currently have formal pension coverage.
A new platform in Zimbabwe is helping people find plumbers, electricians, and other service workers through WhatsApp, no app download needed. The tool could transform how millions access informal sector services across the country.
Twenty-five African countries now track innovation using borrowed metrics that miss grassroots breakthroughs transforming communities. Researchers say it's time to measure what truly drives progress across the continent.
%2Ffile%2Fattachments%2F2989%2F18streetscene_560705.jpg)
Ethiopian migrants have transformed a supposedly "declining" Johannesburg neighborhood into a thriving $1.3 billion trading hub that outearns South Africa's largest mall. Their self-organized network now supports hundreds of thousands across southern Africa.
A fintech company just helped one million Nigerians access their first smartphones and loans worth ₦231 billion. For informal workers long ignored by banks, it's changing how they earn a living.
