ZATUC advocates for informal economy policy

ZANZIBAR Trade Union Congress (ZATUC) has started advocating for the introduction of an informal economy policy that will pave the way for the protection and development of the informal sector, which contributes heavily to the development of the country.

“We need to influence policies to protect all those in the informal economy: petty traders, farmers, food vendors, and others because it employs over 85 per cent of people with ability to work,” Mr Amour Mussa Makame, from ZATUC said at a press conference.

Mr Makame who is the secretary of Communication and Transport Workers Union of Zanzibar (CoTWU-ZNZ) said it is high time to help through lobbying so that workers in the informal sector get what they deserve such as social protection, social justice, and other basic rights.

He pointed out that people in the informal economy including bricks and building materials makers, food vendors or mama poa, porters, and transport operators (including bodabodas) should be involved in the discussions that will lead to the proposed ‘Informal economy policy.”

Mr Makame said that formalization of the informal sector by having a policy will create for them a better position to enjoy the rights they deserve as well as the government, which has been promoting the Public Private Partnership (PPP).

“We are also carrying out public awareness so that all business people in the informal economy get registered in their respective associations so they operate as a group not as individuals, because it becomes easier to help in groups,” Mr Makame emphasized.