Acumulação, Risco e Sobrevivência na Economia Informal: os candongueiros de Luanda

Over the last 25 years there have been significant changes in the Luanda’s urban landscape due to the prolonged civil war and the political and economic transformations. There was a decline in the formal supply of road transport and this provided the opportunity for the arrival and accelerated growth of minibuses as the most fitting means of urban transport. This changing process also gave rise to new actors, to new models for exploiting the activity, new forms of employment contracts and new forms of social organization. This communication explores the emerging nature of Luanda’s minibus taxi industry. The purpose of this study is to assess how far these activities contribute to satisfying the mobility needs of Luanda’s population, to generating household income and employment and to the professional and social integration of a large number of Luanda’s citizens. A further objective is to identify the actors involved, the kinds of relationships that exist as well as the patterns in working activities. This paper describes and characterizes the above mentioned transformation process, based on a bibliography review, direct observation and information collected in the field from September 2003 to August 2004. Systematic direct observation, made on more than 50 trips on short and long routes, has been another important source of information. Results are also reported from documental analyses and from a series of in‑depth interviews with institutional actors and with the main operators involved in the activities (fare collectors, drivers, owners, passengers).