More than three-quarters of jobs linked to trade and global supply chains in 11 African countries are informal, yet the workers and small businesses driving much of this activity have limited influence over trade policies affecting their livelihoods, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has found.
The finding is contained in a new ILO brief, Engaging Informal Economy Actors in Trade and Labour Policy in Africa, which calls for stronger representation of informal workers and enterprises in trade policy discussions.
The 11 countries covered account for 45% of employment in Africa, while more than 85% of employment across the continent is informal, the ILO said.
“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,” the organisation said.
The gap is most evident in agriculture, where almost 98% of workers are informally employed. Many operate at the lower levels of supply chains with limited relationships with major suppliers and buyers.
Ghana’s cocoa sector provides an example of how informal workers can gain access to policy discussions through organised representation.
The Ghana National Cocoa Farmers Association represents about 680,000 of the country’s estimated 800,000 cocoa farmers and is affiliated with the Ghana Federation of Labour, which has advocated for farmers in engagements with government, including discussions over cocoa farm-gate prices.
The ILO said cooperatives and associations could provide a route for informal workers and businesses into established social dialogue structures.
“Cooperatives and associations can provide one route into established social dialogue structures,” the brief said, particularly when they build links with workers’ and employers’ organisations.
The organisation also pointed to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as an opportunity to widen participation.
National Implementation Committees under the agreement provide platforms for governments, workers’ and employers’ organisations and civil society to discuss trade decisions with labour-market implications. Trade union representatives already participate in such committees in Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria and Rwanda.
The ILO said stronger connections between these mechanisms and organisations representing informal workers could help trade policy better reflect the realities of African labour markets.
The findings are based on an ILO survey and consultations involving more than 70 stakeholders from government, workers’ and employers’ organisations and civil society in Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Uganda.
The ILO said participation should complement efforts to formalise informal employment, arguing that workers and enterprises should have a meaningful voice in decisions that shape their economic opportunities.
