The informal sector in Africa needs to adopt digitally if it is to be competitive, was the key message at 18th Africa Resource Bank Forum held in Nairobi.
Hosted by the Inter Region Economic Network (IREN), the Director, Mr James Shikwati, said that it is imperative for the informal economy to adopt digital technologies if it is to be more competitive.
” Social media applications have become the new way that those in the neo-informal economy can reach out to their customers,” he says, as cited by Upesinews.
The theme of the Forum is titled ” The Future of Africa’s Informal Industry in the Era of Digitilization.”
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that there are 66 percent of people who are in the African informal sector.
Data from the Financial Deepening Sector (FSD) estimates that the Kenyan informal sector generates 82.7 percent, as of of employment but is hindered by challenges such as access to finance, though digital payment services are offering a viable alternative as they are able to distill the virtual records that are kept.
” The number of mobile money transactions in the country was worth Ksh 2.02 trillion,” states the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) in its 2019/2018 fiscal report.
The Movable Property Security Assets Bill is another way that the government has come in to address this gap.