I don't know much about Indian government, but the problem with African governments is they tend to operate on a selfish basis, i.e. their legislation is design

I don't know much about Indian government, but the problem with African governments is they tend to operate on a selfish basis, i.e. their legislation is designed around improving public employees (including top leadership) to the detriment of the population. When the government's legislation is sometimes actively against your welfare as a citizen, I imagine you're much more likely to have off-the-books and informal business. Again, the lack of infrastructure in many places requires citizens to work around these problems and the larger sense of community in most African cultures also makes an informal economy more likely. These are just anecdotal opinions, though, so take it with a large pinch of salt.