In most African countries, between 80 and 95 per cent of the working population make a living working in the informal economy. Informality thus shapes how people live and how they interact with the state. People working and living in informality have less access to public services than people earning their income in the formal economy. Despite the crucial role of informal labour for African economies and societies only few empirical data exist on the subject. It is against this background that ILO, IDOS and FES initiated the joint research project �Informal Employment, Social Security and Political Trust in sub-Saharan Africa�.