CSO Session 8: Sustainable development of African borderlands through the formalization of informal cross-border trade

The African continent has a huge potential to accelerate and drive large social and human development. In all its diversity, it boasts the youngest, fastest- growing middle-class in the world. However, the latest political, economic and health crises that we have experienced in the world have revealed an increased vulnerability of the African economy. As well as thirty-six of the world’s most fragile countries are in Africa, it hosts 390 million people living below the poverty line and the informal sector often represents 70 to 90% of the economy which is the highest in the world. The session will explore the key issues related to transforming Africa’s informal sector from a business perspective and how this can lead to more and better jobs for Africa’s people. It will highlight firstly how decent work can become a driver for an inclusive transformation, in particular through the formalization of the informal economy. In other hands, it will emphasise the key obstacles and enablers, main sectors affected by current policy gaps in regional cross border trade governance and reviews policy priorities across intra-Africa regional trade and Africa-Europe trade cooperation. At the same time, it underlines the need to address cross border trade issues on the continent from a sustainable development and decent work creation perspective.