To harness the informal sector’s numbers, the United Informal Sector Forum (UISF) and Union Transport Alliance (UNION) have partnered to bring informal businesses together and strengthen their links to larger commercial opportunities.The partnership, launched under the theme “Tuliwamu: Building Uganda’s Invisible Economy Together,” brings together UISF, which represents 18 informal sector categories through 84 associations, and UNION, an alliance of transport operators, including taxi and boda boda riders, truck drivers and bus operators.Nearly nine in every 10 Ugandan workers earn their livelihood in the informal economy, making it the country’s biggest source of employment, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) Labour Market Survey 2025.The survey shows that 87.6 per cent of workers are in informal employment, rising to almost 90 per cent when agriculture is included. Of the 11.8 million Ugandans in employment, more than 7.3 million work in informal establishments.Despite their numbers, many informal businesses struggle with limited access to markets and technology, as well as tax compliance and other regulatory challenges.Bigger marketsJane Francis Nambassa, a charcoal briquettes seller who uses recycled waste, said many informal businesses have products and services capable of competing in wider markets but lack the networks and platforms to reach larger customers.“The informal sector has for a long time been ignored, and this has in some cases led to us missing out on opportunities,” Nambassa said.She said the partnership had come at an opportune time because it would enable informal businesses to organise, lobby for opportunities as a unified group and explore new markets.“We are happy about this partnership because it will help us lobby for opportunities as a unified voice and also help us promote our businesses on a global scale,” she said.UISF chairperson Asuman Mwanje said the partnership is intended to move informal businesses beyond operating as isolated enterprises and associations by bringing their collective economic strength into focus.Mwanje said the sector faces challenges including tax and compliance issues, weak market linkages and limited adoption of technology, which is increasingly important for businesses seeking to expand.“If we connect hands together and focus ourselves on the business perspective of these numbers, we can easily develop a very strong voice that will act as an advocacy centre for all informal business operators,” Mwanje said.He said the forum’s large membership gives it an opportunity to use its collective strength to pursue economic opportunities and engage government and other stakeholders.Power of numbersUNION product adviser Fred Ssenoga said the partnership builds on the organisation’s experience of bringing previously fragmented transport workers together, particularly boda boda operators.He said the same approach could be extended to the wider informal sector, allowing businesses to use their numbers to gain greater economic influence when organised and working collectively.“The magic in these developments is very simple: numbers,” Ssenoga said. “Once we have the numbers, we have the biggest economic bloc in Uganda.”However, Ssenoga said numbers alone would not be enough to transform the sector. Organisation, discipline and digitalisation would be necessary for informal businesses to turn their collective strength into sustainable economic growth.“Once the discipline is there and we digitalise our operations, then you have the best platform,” he said.The post Uganda’s informal economy seeks strength in numbers appeared first on The Observer Media Ltd.