Informal workers and small businesses play a major role in Africa's trade but often have little opportunity to influence the trade and labour policies that directly affect their livelihoods, according to new research from the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The representation gap is particularly significant given the scale of informal employment. More than three quarters of jobs linked to trade and global supply chains are informal in 11 African countries for which data are available. The countries account for 45 per cent of employment in Africa. Across the continent, more than 85 per cent of employment is informal, the highest rate of any region.
The new research brief, Engaging informal economy actors in trade and labour policy in Africa, examines why informal workers and enterprises struggle to participate in policy dialogue and identifies ways to strengthen their voice, including through linking cooperatives and associations with workers' and employers' organizations, and mechanisms established under trade agreements such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The brief builds on stakeholder evidence gathered for the ILO report Trade, Investment and Decent Work in Africa: Evidence and Stakeholder Perspectives, which examined the relationship between trade, investment and employment and highlighted the importance of stronger links between trade and employment policies.
Missing voices in trade policy
Despite being directly affected by trade policy, informal workers and enterprises are often poorly represented when it is developed. Formal exporting firms generally have greater access to policymakers, while informal economy actors may struggle to participate in consultations, raise their concerns or even learn about measures intended to support them.
An ILO survey and consultations involving more than 70 stakeholders from workers' and employers' organizations, government institutions and civil society in Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Uganda found that established consultation processes often fail to reach informal workers and businesses.
Representation can also be complicated by the realities of informal employment. Many people operate simultaneously as workers and own-account operators, making conventional distinctions between "worker" and "employer" difficult to apply and creating challenges for representation through traditional organizations.
The issue is particularly important in sectors deeply connected to African and global trade. Almost 98 per cent of agricultural workers in Africa are informally employed, with many working at the lower tiers of supply chains and having limited relationships with major suppliers and buyers.
Informal cross-border trade is another major source of employment and livelihoods. Women make up the majority of informal cross-border traders in many parts of Africa and can face harassment and insecurity at borders, limited access to finance and difficulties navigating regional trade rules.
Finding routes into policy discussions
The brief highlights several ways in which informal economy actors can gain a stronger collective voice.
Cooperatives and associations can provide one route into established social dialogue structures, particularly when they build links with workers' and employers' organizations.
In Ghana, for example, the Ghana National Cocoa Farmers Association, which represents around 680,000 of the country's estimated 800,000 cocoa farmers, is affiliated with the Ghana Federation of Labour. The trade union has advocated on farmers' behalf in discussions with government, including over adjustments to cocoa farm-gate prices.
The brief also identifies trade agreements as a potential avenue for more inclusive participation.
Under the AfCFTA, National Implementation Committees can provide platforms for governments, workers' and employers' organizations and civil society to participate in discussions on trade decisions with labour-market implications. Trade union representatives already participate in such committees in several countries, including Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria and Rwanda.
Strengthening links between these mechanisms and organizations representing informal workers and enterprises could help ensure that trade policy better reflects the realities of African labour markets.
Supporting the transition from informal to formal employment remains essential, the brief concludes. But greater participation also matters, as giving informal workers and enterprises a meaningful voice in the decisions affecting them can help ensure that the opportunities created by expanding trade translate into broader and more inclusive development outcomes.
