by Mariatou Ngum
The Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment (MoTIE) in partnership with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on September 21, 2023 convened a day’s forum to validate the first ever Gambia National Formalisation Strategy Document at the Bakadaji Hotel.
The forum brought together representatives of government, trade unions, and employers’ associations, among others.
The strategy aims to unlock the immerse potential of the informal sector, which is a substantial contributor to our economy. With its operational action plan, the strategy is a guide for the transformation of the informal sector and it outlines the challenges faced by enterprises in their attempts to transition into formality and propose strategies, actions and initiatives the government needs to employ with its partners, to ease the entire process of formalisation.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Lamin Dampha, the Permanent Secretary at MoTIE deputising for the Minister, thanked the ILO through their national project office for supporting the development of the Strategy.
He described the initiative as a crucial step towards achieving inclusive economic growth, social dialogue and decent work in The Gambia through systematic approach to formalisation of economic units and informal sector workers.
Informality, he said, is persistent in Sub-saharan Africa. “According to The Gambia Labour Force Survey 2023, persons employed in the informal sector constitute about 62.8% of total employment, and of that women constitute 84.7%. Based on the economic activity, employment in the agricultural sector is almost completely informal with 96.4% employment. In non-agricultural sector, three workers out of four are engaged in informal employment,” Dampha stated. This, he pointed out “shows how severe informality is in The Gambia context and these severities do not only deter economic growth and development but affect social wellbeing and access to basic services”.
The Permanent Secretary explained that by promoting formalisation, it strives to ensure economic stability, generate job opportunities, augment government revenue, uplift living standards, and alleviate poverty. He further informed the participants that formalisation will facilitate increased investments and improved access to credit while creating greater prospects for entrepreneurship and innovation.
Ajara Jallow, the National Project Coordinator, ILO Gambia office, thanked the Ministry for their support and dedication throughout the consultation process; the consultant Mr Abdou Touray and the stakeholders for their contributions towards to the document.
Mr. Omar Badjie, the Director of the Directorate of Industry and Investment Development at MoTIE, chaired the occasion.
Background
The Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment recently signed an Implementation Agreement (IA) with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), through its Formalisation of The Gambia’s Informal Sector Project, to develop an integrated national strategy and an operational action plan for the formalisation and transformation of the informal sector in The Gambia. The development of the Strategy was preceded by a nationwide regional tripartite stakeholder consultations, to gauge understandings on the formalisation process especially from the perspective of the Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) eco-system.