WAWISSS

West African Women’s Integrated Social Security Scheme (WAWISSS) is a community-driven social security system laced with oversight participation from ECOWAS leaders. It is the integration of the different women’s communities (associations, organizations and unions) within the informal sector in West Africa. WAWISSS aims to make each community a lead partner in their own development by strengthening their support base.  First, a NEEDS assessment is required.

Objectives:

1. Provide the women with a digital presence.
2. Promote the community-loving nature of the women.
3. Engage them with technology.

Four grade levels exist. Level zero is the pool of unemployed women. Level one accommodates those below the lowest income threshold, requiring incentives, two is the asset acquisition level and three is the human capital investment level. A general pool of savings can be assessed.

Digitization of the women’s data, their profiles and the use of mobile money and block-chain technology are the tech-based solutions incorporated.

The problem I am proffering a solution to is the absence of an integrated digital common platform upon which the West African woman in the informal sector can connect in different ways. Connection may be motivated by trade, social engagements, information sharing, etc. Overall, connections will be geared towards increasing the visibility of these women given that they make a significant portion of the ‘missing middle’. The expected result is a ‘visible vibrant middle’.

By solving this specific problem, it is believed that other solutions to related social security (SS) problems in West Africa will be generated such as data availability, lack of statistics for designing SS policies and fraud.

My solution serves the women in West Africa who work in the informal sector.

The different ways it will impact their lives:

1. Diversify and strengthen the women’s communities and build capacity

It will provide the women with a common platform upon which they can organize and network among themselves. This will enable them find support both emotionally and financially, share common interests, build capacity and confidence, form ad-hoc pressure groups that address specific problems in their communities and increase the trading of goods and services.

2. Increase visibility

Digitizing each woman’s profile will make her more visible to other women, to development organizations, governments, donors as well as credit organizations. She can easily find out where jobs (in line with her skill) are available, who needs her services and where she can obtain loans at cheaper rates.

3. High sense of ownership and confidence 

 The integration of already existing women’s associations, organizations and local unions in the informal sector will give the women a higher sense of scheme ownership. Building on the already existing structures jump-starts the ability of the scheme to make good use of the knowledge, skills and procedures that are already in place. 

The absence of an integrated common digital platform (the problem) and the proposed solution of a framework that integrates the already existing women’s organizations, associations and unions (in the informal sector) addresses the regional level issue raised by the Mission Billion Challenge WURI West Africa Prize. This also has the ability to reach scale because women are caregivers and mothers. Thus, the value of empowering a woman will be felt throughout her family and most probably, her community. 

Each woman will be able to track and assess (by way of reputation score and credit rating) the performance of other women on the platform. 

The scheme follows an ‘incentives-qualifying conditions-benefits’ pattern. To qualify for any level, a woman must have benefited and contributed to the social protection scheme.

This preservation of already existing communities can spark the diversification of savings in the light of a digital presence as the different communities interact. This can provide a basket of savings for each woman to both address her specific vulnerabilities and priorities as well as comfortably contribute into the general pool of savings. 

The integration, on a digital platform, of the already existing women’s communities in the West African informal sector is what makes my solution innovative. SEWA (self employed women’s association) in India is about the only most comprehensive social protection program that exists for women in the informal sector characterized by a large membership. None exists in Africa. My solution is unique because it addresses the issue of not only the women’s social identity but also their economic identity following the digitization of their profiles. The inclusion of a reputation score and credit rating system that can be tracked, accessed and confirmed by a blockchain technology as well as the different sub-communities the woman would have transacted with, provides a new perspective within the informal sector in Africa.

Another unique angle is making WAWISSS a self-sufficient scheme. This idea is drawn from the SEWA’s make-up given that the body runs their own cooperatives, banks and health initiatives. However, in my solution, the self-sufficient attribute is injected into the structure of WAWISSS in that it is a requirement for women up the ladder to pull up those at the lower rungs in order for them (those higher up) to benefit from the system.

Despite the heterogeneous nature of the informal sector in West Africa whereby different sectors exist in different countries having different languages, women here all share a common life cycle in which the bear similar risks. These include employment insecurity due to pregnancy for young adult females; social expenses as a result of marriage, training children, burials, diseases etc during middle age; and loss of assets (especially for widows) and inadequate retirement income during old age. WAWISSS aims to capitalize on these commonly shared issues to pull the women together. It can be argued that if different governments can work together under one body to solve collective problems such as ECOWAS, then it is very possible to unite the different women’s communities under one umbrella to solve the problems that the women generally face. This is how the process works:

The general structure of the scheme

First, it is important to note that the scheme will not allow for individual entry. A woman can only join WAWISSS through her local association, organization or union. That is, she must first be a member of any valid and verifiable community in the informal sector because the scheme only caters to the integration of community ecosystems. However, a woman would possess her own unique identity once on the platform.

A graded model is adopted. Four major levels of participation exist (with levels one, two and three having two to three ‘in-level’ steps).

Level zero (base level)

This is the pool of unemployed women who are looking for jobs or are ready to participate in vocational training programs or employment creation schemes.

Level one

Level 1 step 1 will accommodate the women who fall below the lowest income threshold (which will be determined based on the NEEDS assessment). Here, a woman is provided with incentives such as a livestock to rear (for a woman in the Agric sector) or raw materials (for those in the textile sector) or even equipment like a sewing machine in order to motivate her and provide her with an extra source of income. In a situation where a woman’s reputation score has not yet been established, the women can be grouped into small groups of 3-5 women. They will be given the incentives and they are expected to earn using the strategy of shared turnover. They will also receive regular skills training that will improve their abilities. This will mostly be organized at the community level.

An in-kind contribution is given in exchange. The women must agree to keep their children (especially their girl child) in school. They are also expected to regularly take their children for health checks. For those who do not have children, other in-kind contributions such as community works and voluntary services will be assigned to them (based on the NEEDS assessment).

Remarks: Ensuring that girls are kept in schools will go a long way in reducing child labor and early child marriages. The ‘on-the-ground’ communities will monitor and ensure that the women keep to the rules of the scheme.

Level 1 step 2 will require, in addition to step 1, that each woman makes a small financial contribution to the general savings pool.

Level 1 step 3: At this level, it is expected that the woman’s income has stabilized a bit and she is making a higher level (than step 2) of contribution into the general savings pool.

Level two

This is the asset acquisition level. Step 1 and step 2 differ in the number and size of loans a woman can receive. This will be based on her credit ratings and reputation score. Loan groups and cooperatives within the scheme can serve as the first lending partners. A woman in this level is eligible to obtain sufficient loans to enable her purchase an asset such as land, house etc.

A higher contribution (than level 1) into the saving pool is expected. Those in this level will be provided with opportunities to re-skill/up-skill.

Remarks: Community supervision is key to ensuring that the loans are specifically used to purchase the needed asset.

Repayment patterns are tracked. They will have a significant impact on a woman’s reputation score.

Research has shown that the ability of a woman to own her own asset (which is not through a relationship with a male relative) makes her more resilient to displacement and exploitation. It improves her status and increases her participation in household decision making.

Level three

This is the human capital investment / community goodwill level. This level houses women with higher incomes within the informal sector in West Africa. Here, a woman is expected to contribute in the following ways:

1. Train other women (up to 3 by the third step and possibly more if one wants to go further)
2. Act as angel investors
3. Incentive providers
4. Community goodwill

These apprentices will be chosen from the pool of unemployed women in the scheme (level zero)

They will invest in start-ups. That is, in women who have just graduated from a vocational or apprenticeship training and are ready to start their own business.

In collaboration with ECOWAS, they will also participate in providing incentives to those women in level 1 step 1. Other options include lending out their assets to say, women who are about to give birth. The expecting mothers can rely on the asset as a source of extra income (say, an asset that can be hired out) during the first few months after birth.

This involves investing in the growth of both offline and online communities. Community projects such as borehole drilling to provide clean drinking water, makeshift clinics especially during emergencies etc are some of the projects that can be accomplished by an individual or a group of women within this level.

A much higher level (than level 2) of financial contribution into the general savings pool is required.

A core benefit of being in this level is having the opportunity to serve in a leadership position within the scheme. The grade of leadership will vary based on the step number (1, 2 and 3) a woman is on. Women in this level will also have access to higher level trainings on leadership, business etc.

Digital enablers

1.  Digitization of the women’s data

The first critical step is to identify the women. Biometric identification will be made use of. Their names, fingerprints and facial photographs will be collected. Each woman will receive an ID card to prove that she is a member of the scheme.

2. Digitization of the profiles of the women on a digital platform

This is needed for a network around both similar and dissimilar businesses. It will take the form of an e-commerce/ social media platform.

The women will be able to track theirs and other women’s credit histories, reputation scores, information about the current level a woman is on and her business economic inputs and outputs. This type of longitudinal data is needed for growth within the different value chains on the platform. Buyers can get information on the price, availability and the actual quantity of goods present. Sellers can get information on who needs their products, lenders can get information on the credit worthiness of each woman etcetera.

These digital profiles can also be assessed offline through an e-catalogue. Furthermore, excerpts can be made available in the form of handbooks.

3.  Mobile money account

With the aid of biometric authentication, financial transactions can be carried out by the women on the established mobile money platform for the scheme. One in which it is easy to transfer both in local and foreign currencies.

Other more traditional options like banks will also be made available. The women will be provided with smartcards with which they can use to either make contributions to the scheme or withdraw payments.

4.  Blockchain technology

Given that subgroups are allowed to thrive within WAWISSS among women who share similar ideas or businesses, the use of blockchain for business will be encouraged within the subgroups that are majorly formed for business transactions, peer-to-peer lending or for asset pooling.

This will allow for transparency and accountability in the system. The women will also be able to build their credit ratings.

The European Union’s book titled ‘Extending coverage: social protection and the informal economy’ gathered experiences and ideas from researchers and practitioners who attended the regional workshop in Kenya, mainly focusing on the informal sector in Africa. It was observed that in order to thoroughly tackle the question of how to extend protection coverage, there was a consensus for a comprehensive solution that hinged on a regionally harmonized social protection program. My proposed solution has also taken this into account.

There are a number of advantages of integrating different women’s communities, be they organizations, unions, associations, cooperatives etc. Since the members live in different locations, other similar communities can be of help to a community that has been affected by say, a disaster. Also, a woman can spread her risk to as many sub- communities as possible. Greater economies of scale and scope is another advantage that can stem from this regional harmonization. The women’s children, families and by extension their communities can be impacted positively. The exposure to the different ways of solving an issue and the different opportunities and possibilities that abound for a West African woman in the informal sector are multiplied in the face of a digital network and this subsequently leads to a heightened sense of awareness.

This gender-responsive approach will provide a better understanding of how West African women relate with the informal sector in terms of the use and control of different resources and services and the ways in which their contributions can be maximized. Overall, a much stronger voice for the women which induces collective actions can be achieved. This voice will dispel the ‘missing middle’ phenomena.

My solution requires the participation of ECOWAS in the creation and monitoring (along with the women) of the general pool of savings that the women will be contributing into. This will mainly be facilitated by mobile money technology. This is where ECOWAS has a role to play in integrating the scheme into the general framework of the region’s social protection system. Furthermore, the generation of data bordering on the different aspects of the women’s relationship with the informal sector can be used by ECOWAS to better improve service delivery to the women in the informal economy.

I would love to partner with the WURI Program coordinators to provide the women with identity cards.