Gauging minimum wage A minimum wage alone will not improve the lot of Africa’s legions of jobless and informal workers By Kate Stegeman After protracted strikes and pressure from trade unions South Africa is debating imposing a national minimum wage. Other African states are also seeking to extend mandatory pay scales to improve worker livelihoods and curb poverty. But the issue is tricky because unemployment rates in Africa are sky-high and most workers are not formally employed. Minimum wage laws currently affect too few people. Economists are divided. Some argue that a minimum wage will make workers too expensive and…
