Secteur non structure de tombouctou.

The extension of the Bamako informal sector project to the other cities is the occasion for the 1986 survey of 87 blacksmiths, leather workers, weavers, shoe makers, metal workers and carpenters in Tombouctou. They are organized in four trade associations supported by the ILO-executed technical assistance projet, and in three cooperatives. In contrast to the cooperatives, the members of the trade associations operate on an individual basis. The cooperatives, which are older, have a higher propensity to accumulate capital, and therefore are closer to modern modes of production; have a higher apprentice/master ratio and obtain orders from public services and civil servants. Both suffer from the fact that limited transport facilities hamper the access to raw materials and to other potential markets.