It is still difficult to assess the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in several dimensions. This is particularly the case for the informal economies in developing countries. The German Development Institute/ Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation (FES) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) held an online roundtable on 10 February 2021 that presented first empirical results from six national representative surveys in the informal economy. The surveys were conducted in Senegal, Ethiopia, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Zambia and Kenya. In the first part of the roundtable, Florence Bonnet (ILO) presented findings on access to health and health insurance coverage in the informal sector. Afterwards, Christoph Strupat (DIE) showed evidence on the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was moderated by Manfred Öhm (Head of Africa Department, FES) and Julia Leininger (DIE). The results provided a better understanding of the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the informal economy and were a basis for a lively discussion after the presentations.
