Labour force and working conditions in the informal
sectorThe rate of salaried employment is low in the informal sector. Indeed, only 6 out of 100 workers are salaried. This low level of salaried employment is more observed in industry (9.6%) than in services (4.7%) and commerce (3.3%). The workforce of the UPIs is mainly composed of own-account workers (78.3%). This proportion is higher in the female workforce (85.1%) compared to men (70.6%). The service sector (35.0%) is the one with the highest concentration of workers in the informal sector. Just over half of workers (52.3%) in the informal sector have an employment contract, i.e. 2.1% who have a written contract and 50.2% who have a verbal contract (membership or mutual agreement). The distribution of informal sector workers by weekly working hours shows that just over one in five workers work less than 20 hours per week and almost half (47.2%) more than 40 hours. In addition, these workers work an average of 40.5 hours per week. This average duration varies according to the place of residence. Indeed, workers in urban areas work an average of 44.5 hours per week compared to 33.1 hours in rural areas. The average number of years of education for workers is about 6.6 years, the equivalent of a first year of secondary school. As for the average length of service in the production unit, it is 7.3 years. In addition, nearly three out of four workers have learned
their trade on their own or by doing. The average age of workers in the informal sector is 35.7 years. It ranges from 37.8 years in the trade sector to 35.0 years in services to 34.4 years in industry. The average income of workers in the informal sector is 83,409 CFA francs per month. It varies from 96,367 CFA francs for workers in urban areas to 59,520 CFA francs for those in rural areas. An hour worked in this sector brings in an average of 669 CFA francs as employment income
. The average monthly income of employers (181,200 CFA francs) is almost double that of own-account workers (93,500 CFA francs).
