Abdoul Wahab Barry Head of Hub and Country Director, West and Central Africa Division, IFAD
Innocence Ntap President of the “Haut Conseil du Dialogue Social (HCDS)” and former Minister of Labour, Senegal
Lorraine Sibanda President of StreetNet, Zimbabwe
Alex Frimpong Secretary-General, Ghana Employers’ Association
Mody Guiro President, Africa, International Trade Union Confederation, and Secretary-General, National Confederation of Workers, Senegal
Overview
This high-level interactive panel will explore the key policy issues related to transforming Africa’s informal and rural economies and how this can result in more and better jobs for Africa’s youth. It will look at the ways in which decent work can become a driver for such inclusive transformation, in particular through the formalization of the informal economy and the revitalization of the rural areas.
The panel will be addressing some of the following issues and questions:
What are the key priorities for ensuring a transition to formality as a means for reducing poverty, improving working conditions and ensuring the sustainability of enterprises, including through a fair competition among them?
What policies and programmes need to be put in place to support economic diversification and structural transformation of rural economies with a view to improving formal employment opportunities in rural areas? What policies can work best in transforming agriculture and making rural economies attractive for young women and men?
How can the voices of informal economy and rural workers, particularly women, be better reflected in policy-making?
