Various studies have indicated that innovation in the informal sector is crucial to development. One scholar affirms that “if you want to develop Africa, you must develop the leadership of African women.”⁽²⁾ Women have been largely absent from formal positions of power in African states, despite their involvement in other national duties. For example, in Zimbabwe and Guinea-Bissau, women actively participated in the national liberation armed struggles, but only a few of them obtained formal positions subsequently.⁽³⁾ Due to a variety of factors, many women find themselves limited to the informal sector.

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an intergovernmental body concerned with the affairs of the Eastern region of Africa, has embarked on a campaign to recognise women as the drivers of development in this region.⁽⁴⁾ This CAI paper discusses this IGAD initiative and praises it for addressing some of the challenges that women face.

The history, structure and mandate of IGAD

Created in 1996, IGAD superseded the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD). Through the United Nations (UN), six of the countries in the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda) took action to set up an intergovernmental body – IGADD – responsible for addressing drought-related problems and ensuring development in the region. IGADD was established in 1986 to purposely address issues of severe droughts and natural disasters that had caused widespread famine, ecological degradations and economic hardships in the Eastern region of Africa between 1974 and 1984. Although individual countries had endeavoured to manage the situation with the assistance of the international community, the burden was too great to handle independently. Eritrea became the seventh member of IGADD after attaining independence in 1993,⁽⁵⁾ but was suspended for purportedly supporting a Somalia militant group linked to the terrorist group Al Qaeda.⁽⁶⁾

IGAD consists of four hierarchical policy organs, namely the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, the Council of Ministers, the Committee of Ambassadors and the Secretariat. The organisation “is assigned to assist and complement the efforts of the Member States to achieve, through increased cooperation, food security and environmental protection, promotion and maintenance of peace and security and humanitarian affairs as well as economic cooperation and integration.”⁽⁷⁾

Women in the informal sector in Africa

The informal sector is considered the main source of income for the majority of African women and now accounts for 78% of non-agricultural employment in sub-Saharan Africa.⁽⁸⁾ Also, the informal sector accounts for the employment of 95% of all women outside agriculture in Benin, Mali and Chad.⁽⁹⁾ Most women operate in the informal sector because, according IGAD Programme Manager, Joseph Rwanshote, women lack the resources to reach the threshold to penetrate the formal sector. Despite this issue, women “shoulder a lot of responsibility in keeping economies afloat, though there is very little recognition of their contribution,” he adds. The IGAD campaign aims to recognise and position women as the drivers of development in the region. By improving their own positions, women will simultaneously strengthen the African society as a whole, as well as enhance the continent's broader development prospects.⁽¹⁰⁾

Despite the IGAD advancement, many of these women continue to face enormous challenges whilst carrying on with their business endeavours. Business women from the member states recently met in Kampala to discuss these challenges. For instance, women find it difficult to raise the minimum amount of UGX 500 million (US$ 194, 931) to start a bank, or UGX 200 million (US$ 77,972) to open a forex bureau.⁽¹¹⁾ In Djibouti, where most of the banks are scheduled to end business at 12.30pm, women often use this opportunity to converge with their meagre resources in areas such as street corners to offer foreign exchange services to clients. In Uganda, about 90% of the rural women are involved in agriculture compared to 53% of rural men, yet most of their anticipated returns are not achieved. IGAD endeavours to use the views from this meeting to formulate an action plan that would address the challenges faced by women in the informal sector in the member states.⁽¹²⁾

IGAD in Uganda

Notwithstanding the fact the most women in Uganda live on less than a dollar a day, many work four to eight hours a day more than men. According to the Director of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives in Uganda’s Ministry of Trade, Eng. Samuel Ssenkungu, it is imperative to improve the participation of women in business, as well as their work environments. The Ugandan government has embarked on a national export strategy which will assist to ‘amplify’ income for women and improve their standards of living, as well as the health and education of their families.⁽¹³⁾ In addition, this will help create and strengthen reliable partnerships to reduce poverty, especially in rural areas, where over 80% of poor Ugandans reside. Other benefits will include expanding their access to productive assets and economic opportunities whilst mainstreaming them into the global value chain as well as the existing polygonal trading systems.⁽¹⁴⁾ In addition, a Directorate of Micro-, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has been established to coordinate interventions and strategies to develop enterprises under this sector.⁽¹⁵⁾

Concluding remarks

The IGAD promises positive change, not only for poor women in Africa, but also for the working classes that keep economies afloat. Should IGAD encourage governments and organisations to cooperate on more levels, tangible benefits will be felt by the women involved and their communities. When women’s contributions are truly nurtured, they will change the way Africa does business.⁽¹⁶⁾

NOTES:

(1) Contact Catherine Akurut through Consultancy African Intelligence’s Gender Issues Unit (gender.issues@consultancyafrica.com).
(2) Takyiwaa Manuh, ‘Africa Recovery Briefing paper No. 11: Women in Africa’s Development, overcoming obstacles, pushing for progress’, Africa Recovery Online, United Nations, April 1998, http://www.un.org.
(3) Ibid.
(4) Mugisa, A., ‘Women to spur regional development’, New Vision, 10 November 2011, http://www.newvision.co.ug.
(5) The Intergovernmental Authority on Development website, http://igad.int.
(6) Mugisa, A., ‘Women to spur regional development’, New Vision, 10 November 2011, http://www.newvision.co.ug.
(7) The Intergovernmental Authority on Development website, http://igad.int.
(8) Verick, S., ‘The impact of globalization on the informal sector in Africa’, Economic and Social Policy Division,
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2006, http://www.iza.org.
(9) Martha A. Chen, ‘Women in the informal sector: A global picture, the global movement’, http://info.worldbank.org.
(10) Takyiwaa Manuh, ‘Africa Recovery Briefing paper No. 11: Women in Africa’s Development, overcoming obstacles, pushing for progress’, Africa Recovery Online, United Nations, April 1998, http://www.un.org.
(11) Anne Mugisa, ‘Women to spur regional development’, New Vision, 10 November 2011, http://www.newvision.co.ug.
(12) Ibid.
(13) Ibid.
(14) Ibid.
(15) Ibid.
(16) Kevane, M. 2004. Women and development in Africa: How gender works. USA: Lynne Rienner Publishers, https://www.rienner.com.

Written by Catherine Akurut ⁽¹⁾