Internal migration and creation of informal economic activities in the district and peri-urban areas of Bamako-Mali

Abstract

This article aims to highlight the contribution of internal migrants in the creation of informal economic activities in the district and peri-urban areas of Bamako. Malian migration is a historical fact. It is part of a tradition of mobility. Mali, a continental, Sahelo-Saharan and highly landlocked country. Faced with this territorial constraint, populations have adopted migration, mobility and transhumance as an alternative for survival. It is part of household survival strategies. Formerly oriented towards nearby neighboring countries, nowadays a significant number of flows are directed towards the district of Bamako. The district of Bamako owed its dynamism to the massive arrival of rural populations due to the consequences of the drought which severely hit the rural world, and forced populations into exile. The centrality of socio-economic infrastructure in the district of Bamako to the detriment of other economic centers had as a direct consequence the arrival of migrant populations. In Mali, with the increase in urban unemployment and the low absorption capacity of the formal sector, urban populations have resorted to the informal sector. It has contributed to absorbing unemployment in Bamako. It is the leading sector providing employment. The massive influx of internal migrants has greatly contributed to the proliferation of informal activities in the district of Bamako. Unskilled migrants have resorted to this sector to integrate into the urban economic fabric. The methodology is based on interviews, direct observation, a literature review, a quantitative survey using a questionnaire, and a qualitative survey conducted through an interview guide. According to the field results, (56.22%) of the migrants surveyed are in the informal sector and (43.77%) are in the formal sector.