The African Statistical Journal, Volume 9

Abstract

The National Employment and Informal Sector Survey (EESI) carried out in Cameroon in 2005 follows another survey that was conducted in Yaoundé in 1993. The notions of administrative registration and formal accounting used to define the informal sector, evolved between the two periods. Furthermore, the recent development of informal employment now seems to be a more practical alternative to the notion of the informal sector. Upon completion of the collection and exploitation of data, three main problems emerge, namely: (i) determination of the universe of informal production units (IPUs) to be considered in the analysis, (ii) the issue of reconstruction of IPU accounts and (iii) the annualization of economic aggregates. Therefore it is important, several years after carrying out a survey on the informal sector in Africa in general and Cameroon in particular, and given the importance of this sector to our countries’ economies, to take stock of the difficulties of collecting and exploiting data, and to share experiences. This approach aims to promote discussions on the survey methods used in the informal sector and how to improve collection methods that are better adapted to local realities.