SELLING GOODS IN THE SHADOW MARKET. In the shadow market, the biggest flow of goods is from China, but large American companies like Procter & Gamble make their products available to these markets through local distributors. Neuwirth explains how the illegal goods get from China to the underground markets: “There are the guys who sneak stuff out of the port. Then there are the guys who get it across the border. And there are the truck drivers and the loaders and unloaders. It’s a fantastic number of people—all of them working under the table.” As for international brands, the local brand name is often a variant—“Guuucci” with three u’s for example.
Neuwirth’s final point is that: “It’s not a bureaucrat in Washington or Nigeria who can best establish what’s needed to help the poor in Lagos. It’s the people who are working in these markets and living on the streets who can tell us that.”