Digital Technology and Formalization of informal Businesses: A case of African Traditional Spiritualists

Digital technology is pervasively transforming all work sectors, linking people in the informal sector to formal opportunities and bridging all divides. However, its effect on formalization of informal enterprises and businesses that were denied a place in the formal economy is little understood. Most informal businesses that use digital technologies get formalized easily but whether the same thing can be said about some businesses like African traditional spiritualists that traditionally confined to informality is yet to be determined. The objectives of the study were to examine the extent of uptake of digital technologies among African traditional spiritualists as well as the effect of such uptake on their formalization status. Questionnaire was administered to one hundred and forty rainmakers, traditional priests/priestess, fortune teller, bone setters and herbalists from south east and south-south regions of Nigeria. Findings revealed that use of face book, email, smart phones and ATM was popular and that there is a strong correlation between uptake and propensity to formalize. It is recommended that digitization should form part of informal sector development strategy and that competence in digital technology should be treated as a necessity for today’s business success.