Both savings and social protection systems are important, and, on some level, they respond to similar needs: they can help us navigate uncertain futures, stabilise consumption across financial peaks and troughs, and enable us to invest in all kinds of opportunities.

Yet, it is important to insist that they are not the same and follow very different principles. Emphasising one over the other has important consequences for equity and income security. In this light, a recently launched report by the World Bank that provides guidance on how to expand Social Protection for the Informal Economy in Africa and beyond, requires a response.

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