Political Economy of COVID-19 and Women in the Informal Sector in Africa: Survey Data Evidence from Nigeria

Abstract

The novel COVID -19 pandemic is a global challenge, yet the effects of the virus are different in every sector of the economy. Economic activities in the informal sector (IFS) of developing countries are highly dynamic but contribute substantially to the general growth of the economy and personal or household income of women. About 90% of women in the IFS of the developing countries are some of  the most vulnerable to COVID - 19 pandemic. This is because they were forced to choose exposing themselves to the virus and putting food on the table through their daily toils. Due to limited access to essential social services, many of these women engage in small-scale trades in an unhygienic environment. This study examined the extent political economy of COVID-19 has affected women in the IFS the predictors of the level of effect and the possibility of locational difference of the effect. This research utilized Marxian political  economy (dialectical materialism) built on a well-structured questionnaire enumeration of women from 357 households in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. The choice of Nsukka Local Government Area is hinged on the availability of the urban, semi urban and rural communities. The lockdown of the economy was used to capture the political economy of COVID-19. The real limit mean, binary logistic regression and One-Way ANOVA were used to address the objectives of the study. The analyses result showed that the political and economic dynamics of Covid-19 negatively affected these women to a high extent. The variables that determine the level of effect of political economy of Covid19 on these women were their weekly income and the product they sold. However, the level of effect of the interplay of politics and economy of Covid-19 on women in the informal sector was not significantly different across the urban, semi-urban and rural locations. Based on the results, the study recommend amongst others for the re-jigging of the social
provisioning nets by the government to avert the effects of unexpected disruption of economic activities in the future.

Keywords: Political economy, COVID-19, Women, Informal Sector, Developing Country