Ghana Employers' Association (GEA) and the ILO collaborate to foster transition to formality in the country

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Ghana in March 2020, the Ghana Employers Association (GEA), has demonstrated its leadership of the private sector through strong advocacy and recommendations to policy makers for the provision of adequate support to formal enterprises to mitigate the economic and social impact of the pandemic.
GEA has however observed that its members operating informal businesses, although the most vulnerable in the economy, have not received adequate attention amid the pandemic. GEA, indeed plays, a leading and pioneering role in Ghana in organizing informal operators and has especially assisted small and informal businesses within its affiliated member, the Council for Indigenous Businesses Associations (CIBA). CIBA is an umbrella body of fifteen (15) business associations of informal entrepreneurs, comprising of hairdressers, dressmakers, garage operators, indigenous caterers, refrigeration technicians, masons among others.
The nature of their operations require convergence of people at the workplace and face-to-face contacts and compromise prescribed protocols, such as the social distancing directive, required to limit and stop the spread of the pandemic in Ghana. This implies that the success of the country’s fight against COVID-19 significantly depends on the support they receive from key stakeholders such as GEA.
GEA considers also that helping the informal operators in this critical time provides an opportunity to work with the leaders of CIBA and policy makers to facilitate their transition to formality in line with Ghana national informal economy roadmap for transition.
With the support of the ILO, GEA conducted a needs assessment survey of CIBA members and identified areas of possible support amid the COVID-19 outbreak for transition to the formal economy.
The survey carried out between 1st August and 1st September, 2020 covered 524 enterprises (87.3% response rate), members of 11 out of the 15 CIBA informal business associations in ten regions of Ghana. The results provide a good overview of the situation of these informal enterprises and their needs. Based on these results, recommendations to GEA were formulated for policy consideration to regarding capacity building, sensitization and support to provide to CIBA to improve its governance and functioning to effectively mobilize and train informal enterprises for a quicker transition to formality. CIBA and regulatory authorities at national and local levels also received policy guidance.
Collaboration between the ILO and GEA to improve its outreach and services to members from the informal economy and its advocacy on transition to formality will be pursued.

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