Ann Brown writing in 2009:
In Cape Verde, as in many African countries, market women are vital to their local economies. As market traders, crocheters, seamstresses, even hairdressers, they are key contributors to their communities, not only through the goods and services they provide, but also because of the income they generate for their families and suppliers alike. Those who sell fruits and vegetables, like Nanes, purchase their food products from countryside farms and transport them to the urban centers. Others buy from wholesalers in the city.More here
Whether the governments truly understand the importance of these entrepreneurs is debatable. Mary Johnson Osirim, author of Enterprising Women in Urban Zimbabwe: Gender, Microbusiness, and Globalization (Indiana University Press), describes the market women micro-enterprise as the second major area of income-earning for women in Sub-Saharan Africa after agricultural production. “Market women are vital contributors in the food distribution system, especially in sub-Saharan African cities,” she notes. Osirim is also teaches sociology at Bryn Mawr College, in Bryn Mawr, Penn., and serves as co-director of the school’s Center for International Studies and faculty diversity liaison