Social Protection for Workers in the Informal Sector

The need to extend social protection coverage for workers in the informal sector is increasingly receiving attention in many African countries. In Africa, anywhere from twenty per cent to forty per cent of the labour force may be engaged in the informal economy on a full time basis. This is so while ten to twenty per cent of the labour force may be employed in the formal economy which is more dynamic and provides for relatively higher income. This paper demonstrates that the informal sector has grown significantly since the last informal sector survey of 2007 in Botswana. The paper highlights how COVID-19 has compounded risks and vulnerabilities of the informal sector.