For Better or For Worse? The Impact of Middlemen on the Labour Rights of Female Informal Workers in Global Value Chains

Global Value Chain shows an asymmetrical scene; some enjoy participating international markets, others are faced with a precarious situation, and enormous gap exists between people which spans all countries. Female informal workers struggle with cruel working conditions, they do not have social protection, nor even peace of mind. Inequality is no longer necessary any more. Middlemen play a role as a bridge, while upgrading is the key to compete in the chain. How do both parameters engage to ensure that they achieve secure conditions for in-formal workers? Whether external standards and corporate social responsibility take the initiative to play a key role or not. The paper analyzes potential methods that female informal workers can improve their working conditions. Relevance to Development Studies Global Value Chain has been formed by capitalism and the pursuit of profits from labour. A wave of globalization has become more powerful and has dis-torted international labour market. The efficiency of middlemen is much de-bated when viewed from an economic perspective, therefore, the impacts of middlemen for upgrading and female informal workers are not clear yet. The workers have kept silence for decades, we now assume the calm before storm. When the storm brews up, who stimulates it? Hence, the paper examines by analyzing impacts of middlemen for the labour rights of informal female workers in African countries. Keywords