however global trends have contradicted this prediction with populations shifting towards cities even in developed countries and especially in africa the spatial nature of agglomeration economies is at play inperson interactions are still important for networks knowledge sharing and relationships goods still travel by truck and rail food cannot yet be d printed and workers still commute to offices stores and factories daily in the light manufacturing sector small firms in africa are constrained by access to land and finance as well as entrepreneurial skills dinh et al helping to remove these barriers could open up opportunities for aspiring informal sector operators