Last week, more than 400 participants gathered in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, for the Regional Social Security Forum for Africa.
Social protection and the role of social security institutions for development are pressing issues for the region. But, to truly meet the needs of the continent, a real social strategy is one that is built on the development of human capital.
There can be no effective social protection systems if African countries don’t seize their opportunities to weave an industrial fabric specific to Africa. In part, social protection systems in Africa inherit their inefficiency from imported models, out of step with the social reality of African communities.
The realities of the continent do not allow us to literally copy Western models which, moreover, have not ceased to show their limits.
Social protection is today one of the major concerns of politicians, institutions and researchers; and this is not to deny the role of existing models. But any African model must take into account the lack of formal employment, the youth of the population, the reality of the informal sector and the quality of human resources.
Despite political will, social security services in Africa will remain weak because countries whose management and delivery of those services contribute to resilience and sustainability are those that promote employment, education and training.
The pool of labor force in sub-Saharan Africa is unmatched. The COVID-19 pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine have revived discussions about industrial, health, food and energy sovereignty in Africa. Our region has to adapt quickly to be able to seize new economic opportunities and create new industrial expertise. It is in this context that African institutions will be able to implement good social protection practices.
