Speaking at a regional conference on social security, Ngosa Chisupa from the Department of Social Security in Zambia said that the trend in African economies indicates that the informal sector is riddled with lack of technology to make the industry thrive or compete with the formal economy.
Chisupa called for the development of a strategic link between the formal and informal sectors of national economies in the region and that African countries should strive to invest in data collection activities to properly understand the evolution of the informal sector - facilitating the participation in the economic mainstream.
Opening the conference, Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Major General Moeng Pheto thanked the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), Gaborone, for its financial and logistical support towards hosting the conference. He said the theme of this Conference ‘Social Security in the making: Developments in the Informal Economy and Informal Social Security’ was appropriate for economic activities taking place in the region.
The conference covered the informal economy and informal social security; the role of the informal economy, with reference to the social protection framework and policy implications, informal Social Security as a Pillar of Social protection, role and contribution of informal social security with reference to social protection; and linkages between informal social security and formal systems of social protection.
The minister noted that social security is about social justice, adding: “We know that it is mostly in the informal sector where lack of social security coverage is concentrated. In most countries, existing formal social security schemes are designed for and focused on workers in formal employment.”
He said that the objectives of the conference are significant to the developing community, stating that the formal economy has its own challenges with regard to social security. “The twin problems of unemployment and poverty remain intractable. Does the informal sector offer us viable options? Your discussions are also taking place against the backdrop of the disintegration of the extended family system as a source of support for the less fortunate.”
The minister stated further that the weakening of the extended family system can be attributed to urbanisation, modernisation and westernisation which have resulted not only in the dispersion of family members but also in the adoption of a new value system that is not supportive of traditional support systems. It is also important to point out that the harsh economic environment and the magnitude of needs today, make it difficult for the extended family system to continue to play its social security role effectively.”
He said that the scourge of HIV/AIDS is probably the single biggest threat to social security - formal or informal. And that the informal sector, being more vulnerable in any case, probably has even lesser means of protection in the face of the scourge, adding that “the debate would therefore be incomplete without a consideration of the effect of the scourge in the equation.”
FES Resident Representative Dr Marc Meinardus said that the informal economy and informal systems of social security have complex links and how they could be intertwined if not incorporated with formal systems of social security was a matter of regional concern.
He said that FES has supported the SADC Core Group of Social Security Specialists for a number of years, adding: “We had some very encouraging outputs and impacts, such as the Draft SADC Social Security Code and some consultancy spin-offs on national level. Not the least, was the national conference that we had here in Gaborone in September as an initial gathering to work towards an integrated and system of social security in Botswana.
Meinardus said that FES has been working in Botswana for more than 30 years helping in developing and strengthening democracy, stating: “As a social democratic political foundation, founded 80 Years ago and taking into consideration our German history and experience of the wars in Europe, our own totalitarian past and our struggle for democracy, it becomes clear why we are also convinced supporters of regional integration. The European Union for us is the best option to ensure peace and stability in Europe and as a result economic prosperity and growth.
“Therefore promoting regional integration in the SADC is a paramount objective in our work. We are doing this with a number of regional partners, the Trade Unions in SATUCC being one of them. Issues we work on at regional level are among others the legal environment, peace and security and in fact this is the subject of a regional workshop that will begin here in a weeks time - The Macro-Economic Aspects of Deepening Integration.”
This is the fourth regional conference of this kind. The conferences in the past have given very valuable information and discussion and inputs on various issues pertaining to social security. Some excellent publications have been results of this.
