Expert urges govt to create enabling environment for informal sector

The Edo State Technical Advisor on Employment Promotion, Helen Igboka, has urged the government at every level to create an enabling environment for the informal sector of the economy to thrive.

Speaking at the second edition of the Clickafix webinar series, Igboka said the informal sector of the economy is the soul of every economy and governments must pay due attention to the sector if poverty is to be eradicated in Nigeria and Africa at large.

“There is a need to change the orientation of artisans, who make up the largest percentage of the informal sector, to that of entrepreneurship,” Igboka said.

According to her, artisans are demeaned as lower-class citizens because there is a perception that only the less privileged or dullards go into vocational training and there is a lack of capacity by the artisans to present themselves as professionals in offering their services.

Commending Clickafix for providing a marketplace platform where service seekers and artisans can transact business and be mutually satisfied, “apps such as Clickafix are creating an enabling environment for artisans to thrive and enabling comfort, convenience, and choices for the populace,” said Igboka.

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Clickafix is a one-stop shop for tested and trusted artisans such as electricians, plumbers, carpenters, and technicians for generators, air conditioning, refrigerators, and other home appliances.

Also speaking at the webinar, Taiwo Igbayisanmi, assistant secretary of the Lagos State association of professional plumbers, said “Clickafix is transforming the entrepreneurship sector with the opportunities being provided for artisans to meet clients they may never have come across.”

He noted that the platform is also changing the perception of the artisans and enhancing respect for their trade because there is mutual respect between the customer reached via Clickafix and the artisans.

Reinstating Clickafix’s commitment to redefining the vocational space, the moderator of the webinar and head of partnership Clickafix, Precious Akpan said there are a lot of opportunities in the informal sectors and a lot of potentials to transform artisans into entrepreneurs.

She added that Clickafix is determined to enable parties in the sector by bridging the gap between artisans and customers, “once the customers download the app from Play store or IOS, there is instant access to hundreds of artisans from which they can make their choice and get their repairs fixed right on time,” she said.