Africa’s Trade Growth Needs Stronger Job Policies to Deliver for Workers

The report draws on surveys and consultations with government representatives, employers’ and workers’ organizations and civil society in Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Uganda.

Growing trade and investment could open new opportunities across Africa, but better jobs will depend on the policies and conversations that shape that growth, according to new International Labour Organization (ILO) research. Its report, Trade, Investment and Decent Work in Africa, finds broad agreement among governments, employers and workers that employment policies and meaningful social dialogue are essential to turning economic integration into benefits people can experience through their working lives.

Different Priorities, Shared Support for Better Jobs

The report draws on surveys and consultations with government representatives, employers' and workers' organizations and civil society in Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Uganda. These groups approach trade from different positions, making their agreement significant for decisions about how countries expand markets, attract investment and support employment.

Employment policies received particularly strong backing, with 95 per cent of government respondents, 93 per cent of workers' organizations and 91 per cent of employers' associations identifying them among the most effective ways to make trade benefits more inclusive. Social protection, education and training also attracted substantial support, although the groups differed in the importance they placed on individual measures.

ILO Regional Director for Africa Fanfan Rwanyindo Kayirangwa described expanding trade and regional integration as a major opportunity to create more and better jobs, emphasizing that trade policy cannot operate in isolation. She highlighted employment policies and meaningful dialogue among governments, workers and employers as ways to ensure that growing economic activity benefits both people and businesses.

Expanding Markets Can Create Jobs and Put Others at Risk

The findings arrive as implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area is expected to support further trade growth across the continent. International trade already accounts for an average of 60 per cent of GDP and supports around 12 per cent of employment in Africa, giving trade decisions a substantial connection to livelihoods and business opportunities.

Around three-quarters of those surveyed identified job creation as a primary benefit of trade, with respondents also highlighting access to larger markets, skills development, technological progress and productivity improvements. For enterprises, these opportunities can support business development, making the relationship between trade and employment relevant to both workers seeking opportunities and employers seeking growth.

Concerns about employment also ranked prominently because trade can displace jobs as well as create them, and respondents raised risks involving low wages, poor working conditions and informality. Informal employment accounts for more than 85 per cent of total employment in Africa on average and remains widespread in agricultural supply chains serving export markets, making job quality an essential part of discussions about trade expansion.

Giving Workers and Employers a Voice in Trade Decisions

Labour provisions within trade and investment arrangements offer another route to address employment concerns, although their inclusion remains limited among the agreements examined. Of 50 trade agreements involving African countries that are in force and reported to the World Trade Organization, 15 refer to labour provisions, and more than 80 per cent of surveyed stakeholders identified improved labour standards and stronger social dialogue as main benefits of such provisions.

Employers' and workers' organizations bring practical knowledge that can make trade decisions better informed, including experience with skills shortages, workplace conditions, barriers to international markets and difficulties meeting standards. Involving these organizations in policymaking can help governments develop more targeted measures and strengthen implementation and accountability.

The report calls for structured, predictable and well-informed social dialogue supported by employment, skills and social protection policies. Its findings place the quality of jobs and the participation of those affected at the centre of Africa's trade agenda, showing broad support for policies that help expanding markets produce more widely shared opportunities.