The African informal sector is the largest employer of labour in, predominantly, the west African region and all over Africa. Informal workers – street vendors, domestic helpers, artisanal miners, home-based producers- form the backbone of Africa’s economy. Accounting for 80.8% of jobs, the informal sector is the main source of employment and economic activity in urban Africa. The vibrancy of the informal sector is difficult to miss in African cities: street vendors are key in ensuring food security. Those who work in transport keep the city and the economy moving. And those operating in services are critical to the overall incomes and functioning of African cities.
Workers in this category, even though drivers of the economy, do not have access to a lot of amenities required to operate their business at scale, or even maintain a respectable living. Largely illiterate or secondary school drop outs, these individuals use these small businesses as a means of survival. The urban informal economy is particularly common among youth (95.8% ages 15-24) and women (92.1%), and is an important contributor to poverty alleviation. These workers operate under conditions marked by precarity, lacking legal protections, social security, and even basic safety measures. Women and youth are particularly overrepresented in this sector, making inclusive safety and DEI-centered approaches essential for meaningful development.
The Vulnerable Among The Vulnerable
- Women – Female Informal Workers
Women constitute a disproportionately large share of the informal labor force, up to 92% in developing countries and among the most economically vulnerable groups. Many lack maternity protection, operate in hazardous environments, and are also exposed to gender-based violence.
- Child labor
The informal sector is marred by the exploitation of children. Children who should be in school are either forced into early labor by their parents or worse, thrown into it by illegal organizations who use kids to peddle their merchandise, working in conditions likened to slavery. The absence of legal representation leaves these children – particularly girls – exposed to exploitation, abuse and many unspeakable things.
- Persons with a disability
Persons with disability often have it the hardest in the informal sector. Women and youths with disabilities are particularly disadvantaged, being twice as likely to not be in Education, Employment, or Training—compared to their non-disabled peers. These persons suffer from a lack of social protection, legal protection and are often excluded from trade unions.
- Illegal mining operators
There are a lot of grey areas on the standardization of local mining operations and licenses forcing organizations or individual mining expeditions to run by themselves without any regulation. This leads to child exploitation, forced labor, horrible working conditions, health violations.
Barriers to Inclusivity
These intertwined barriers – legal invisibility, cultural norms, limited formal recognition, isolation, data deficits, and digital exclusion – create a multi-dimensional exclusion trap for informal workers, particularly women, migrants, and youth. Without addressing these root causes, efforts toward inclusive safety remain superficial.
A. Regulatory Exclusion & Legal Blind Spots
● Informal Workers Left Out of Labor Law
Many African labor frameworks narrowly define “workers” as individuals with formal employment contracts, excluding informal workers such as vendors, domestic aides, or artisanal miners entirely. For instance, the informal sectors do not form any part of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC). The commission’s idea of a workforce only encompasses civil service officials, excluding the informal workforce from any reformative conversation.
● Licensing & Formalization Hurdles in ASM
Artisanal and small-scale miners (ASM) face high costs, bureaucratic red tape, and often prohibitive eligibility restrictions to obtain mining licenses. Consequently, many elect to operate informally, a decision that exacerbates safety risks and limits access to training or protective equipment. Leading to long term health hazards, permanent physical deformity and death.
B. Socio-Cultural Norms & Gendered Constraints
● Deep-Rooted Gender Roles and Unpaid Care Burdens
Across the continent, cultural norms assigning domestic and caregiving responsibilities predominantly to women significantly restrict their participation in more formal or lucrative work sectors. Women are disproportionately represented in informal and unpaid labor. In Sub-Saharan Africa, women perform nearly four times as much unpaid care and domestic work as men.
D. Data Scarcity and Lack of Visibility
● Invisible Labor, Unseen Risks
Poor data collection and limited visibility of informal work practices hinder evidence-based policymaking. In the case of informal or illegal mining, absence of reliable data limits understanding of safety gaps, prevalence of child labor, or environmental risks—stalling meaningful interventions.
E. Digital Exclusion & Communication Barriers
● Inadequate Access to ICT Services
Digital tools offer immense promise for delivering financial/health services to informal workers, yet uneven access remains a major barrier. For example, Nigeria’s digital divide—driven by expensive equipment, limited ICT literacy, and weak infrastructure—hinders broad-based adoption of digital safety nets and information dissemination. So even if digital solutions are provided to help women out, the logistics to funnel this help down to them disrupts the entire process.
Embedding DEI Principles
Embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in addressing the needs of informal workers demands culturally and structurally nuanced strategies:
Amplifying Representation & Voice
Inclusive Leadership in Worker Networks
Women-led networks like the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF) and StreetNet have transformed informal worker advocacy by ensuring marginalized voices shape their agendas. These institutions need to be localized so that their presence can be felt in regions and local communities.
Collective Bargaining & Legal Recognition
Reforming labor laws to include informal workers and recognizing their ability to unionize is fundamental. This builds legitimacy, gives them a voice in policy, and supports equitable negotiations. For starters in Nigeria localizing labour laws to exist on a state/regional level, including trade unions in discussions on policies will greatly improve the lives of workers in the informal sector.
Expanding Economic and Digital Inclusion
Gender-Transformative Cash and Empowerment Programs
Pilot projects combining cash transfers with gender-responsive interventions—like those studied in South Africa—show promise in enhancing financial autonomy and reducing intimate partner violence among female caregivers.
Combatting Digital Inequality
Expand digital literacy, reduce access costs, and deploy inclusive tools (e.g., local language platforms) to extend financial and safety services to informal workers who are currently excluded by digital barriers.
Conclusion
Inclusive safety in Africa’s informal workplaces is a DEI imperative not just humane, but foundational to economic resilience. By blending policy reform, worker empowerment, digital innovation, and inclusive planning, we can build a future where no worker is invisible or unprotected. This means bridging the gaps in social protection, acknowledging the dignity of all labor, and centering the most marginalized in systems of safety and inclusion.