Informal trade is, in effect, a vital part of the trading system across Africa. It contributes to food security and provides a source of income for millions of people. But governments don’t monitor it and don’t keep it in mind when they’re designing rules for trade. Joachim Jarreau, Cristina Mitaritonna and Sami Bensassi explain how they tracked informal traders in Benin, and how fixing the knowledge gap can help governments design policies that reduce the costs for these less visible operators.

Every now and then the international music press weighs in on the perennial question: Is jazz dead? And then they hold up all sorts of arguments to either bury or revive the genre. The same has happened recently in South Africa with news that one of the country’s major jazz clubs is in dire financial trouble. But, Gwen Ansell reassures jazz fans, there’s no need to mourn.