The informal economy plays a vital role in creating jobs and reducing poverty. The sector employs 2-billion people globally and 2.4-million people in South Africa – representing 17% of SA’s labour force – and provides for the economic needs of many more. South Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP) recognises the growth potential of the informal sector and projects that the sector will create between 1,2-million to 2-million new jobs by 2030.
“We simply cannot ignore the informal economy in South Africa if we want to meet the job creation goals in the NDP – especially when we are constantly faced with the realities of the South African unemployment rate,” says Charleen Duncan, Director of the University of the Western Cape’s Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. “Empowering informal entrepreneurs with access to information and opportunities can advance an economy and a society by leaps and bounds.”
Read the full article: https://www.uwc.ac.za/news-and-announcements/news/transitioning-from-the-informal-to-the-formal-economy-charleen-duncan-explores-a-problem-of-crisis-proportions-67