Informal Sector Recovery Plan for Botswana 2020

Informal Sector Recovery Plan for Botswana 2020

August 12, 2020

This Informal Sector Recovery Plan is a compliment to the two “deep dive” Private Sector and Social Protection Recovery Plans The Informal Sector Recovery Plan is in two parts, Part 1 sets out the Analysis and Recommendations and Part 2, the Action Plan. Part 1 starts with a profile of the informal sector in Botswana. It is estimated that it constitutes around 5.3% of annual GDP, small compared to neighboring countries but nonetheless sizeable. This is followed by exploring an appropriate definition of the informal sector for the Botswana context. The Plan suggest that it should be one that is broad, inclusive, and accommodative of current and future dynamic changes occurring within the macroenvironment and the sector itself in terms of the heterogeneous characteristic features of new participants, and one that recognises decent work, formalisation, and the movement towards less vulnerable, more stable, more sustainable, more successful informal sector businesses as primary goals. Finally, the Plan proposes a definition of the informal sector based on the contents of the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) R204 - Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation, 2015.