Informal work in Sub-Saharan Africa: Main findings from an opinion survey

Between 2018 and 2022, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES, lead agency) in cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) conducted an empirical research project on ‘informal employment, social security, and political trust in sub-Saharan Africa’. Our opinion poll provides novel insight into informality and sheds light on the views and perceptions of people informally employed with regard to health issues, views on trust in state and government, self-organization, and interest in trade unions. The project improves the understanding of access to public goods and their provision; offers entry points for policymaking to provide social protection for the large (informal) majority of the African labor force; and establishes findings about distributional justice.