Formalization of Informal Sector

1a. The informal sector has no access to bank account and no health insurance
 

2a. Through our mobile money payment system accross all networks the
informal workers are able to receive money, make contributions and
withdrawals since transactions can be made in all local languages.
Additional money is earned since mobile money account accrues interest
paid by the service providers. Accessability of mobile money is easy
throughout the country in every village.                                                     2b. Our "1000FOR1" initiative pays waste pickers from the informal sector health insurance for one year after having completed a waste (resource) collection target of 1000kg in one calendar year.                                        2c. Our franchise sytem which self-employs 75% women at waste collection centres

3a. Decent income for collection centres personnel                                    3b. Access to savings and loans                                  
3c. Health insurance does not only change and improve their life-style it also covers their children up to 18 years of age.                                        

In Ghana 80% of adult people work in the informal sector meaning they have no health insurance, not enrolled in a pension scheme and also not paying taxes meaning several million people are working outside the formal system. http://www.fesghana.org/index....     

The Covid-19 pandemic has it even more difficult for waste pickers/informal sector to work and picking waste                                                         
Valuable waste can be recycled and will affect at least 2.0 Million people to be factured in the formalized work force

Our Billion Challenge Mission

1a. Decent jobs through our franchise model, plastic and e-waste collection through Chiefs, Community and MMDA's.

1b. Our "1000FOR1" initiative pays waste pickers from the informal
sector the National Health Insurance Card for one year after having completed a waste (resource) collection target of 1000kg in one calendar year.                                                                                                         1c. The National Health Insurance Card serves as an ID and gives acces to financial services                                                                                        1d. Register the informal sector obtaining the TIN number which entitle to apply for Passport, Driver Licens, opening Bank account.                            1e. Register vulnerable groups for Mobile Money (MoMo)                              1f. Register Mobile Money agents for the project for the "door to door" for easy Mobile Money Payment and transfers for the aged,phisically challenged and poor

Our system guarantees a reasonable income for any source of valuable waste collected by the waste pickers, which includes all plastic waste, paper/carboard waste, WEEE and glass. The targeted population are mainly women (70%) without any formal educational background, majority is illiterate and have very limited access to the formal labour market. The project provides training to enable them to identify valuable waste and do segregation of waste items to increase the value of collected items.

A price list is published for all these valuables and can be brought to collection points already in existence and others to be established.

This project will ensure a staedy income, health insurance to people who are at this moment living outside the established society. The formalization of their work enables them to receive recognition of their jobs and good standing in the society.

Problem: The vulnerable groups mainly women are unemployed and have no permanent income, lack access to savings and financial services, no national ID, social security, health insurance, pension which makes it difficult to escape the vicious circle of poverty and anonymos life.

Solution: Registration on the National Health Insurance and Mobile Money PaymentScheme, TIN registration, enrolement in National Pension scheme

Solution target population related to the Billion Challenge are the following

Our "1000FOR1" incentive model ensures lifting vulnerable persons out of poverty into formalized labour, access to income and savings, Health care, Pension, and access to National TIN ID.

Our "1000FOR1" model is an innovation driven approach that creates green jobs, decent income, health insurance (health care), pension, access to financial savings, Mobile Money payment scheme.

The Innovation is described in our model "1000FOR1" which makes it unique, socially, financially sustainable. The project has no limitations in numbers of people involved since the valuable waste stream in Ghana has a staggering volume of 7,500,000 kg/day or 2,700,000 tons/year which can give work to more than 300,000 people (waste-pickers, collection centres, transporters, recyclers, producers of goods from recycled materials, sales personnel, administrators, Mobile Money agents)

Our solution has no competitors in terms of waste mangement due to the multiplicity, e-waste, plastics, fridge degassing, saw-dust, batteries. We segregate waste at source with waste pickers from informal sector, industries by adding value, building a circular economy through re-manufacturing, giving product mainly to women as retailers.

What makes our solution different and unique

• The "1000FOR1" incentive based model with 75% involvement of women makes us different. It's a solution that uses triple bottom line approach, environmental impact, social impact, economic impact.
• The "1000FOR1" is unique because it gives a multiple solution to                environmental impact, health care, job creation, decent income, Climate mitigation and adaptation through our carbon foot-print calculation. Using our Green Tech App for City Waste activities and services like Mobile Money payment and identification of nearest collection points. 
• Our franchise system on establishing collection points for community based associations, women groups (Start-ups with petty cash)
• Collection points take all recycable waste.

The technology is a software used to register people on the National Health Insurance scheme and the solution is widely used and accepted in Ghana.

It is used in Ghana by all formal sector employees where deductions are made from salaries as contribution to Social Secuirity and National Trust and Health Insurance scheme excluding the informal sector and vulnerable groups who cannot afford contributions/payments.

CWR "1000FOR1" gives the informal sector the opportunity to be on the Health Insurance and Pension scheme by paying for them through our work which entitles their dependents up to 18 years of age as beneficiaries of the parents Health Insurance card

With our experience in sustainable waste collection, recycling and re-manufacturing and a steady increase of recycling volumes and employment in the infomal sector and women groups e.g Dagomba Women Association, Greater Accra Scrap Dealers Association, SEED award winner 2016 as an Eco-Inclusive Enterprise and a Replicator gives us the confidence and proof to be able to go the next step by increasing our activities manyfolds.

Our solution has multiple impacts on the problem because the informal sector/waste pickers and women groups will benefit largely

• Green jobs creation. Trained and registered waste pickers improve their income and living standards as well as their health including their children. The franchise sytem or collection centres gives self-employment to the operator and additional employment
• Decent Income for Waste Pickers, Collection Points attendants, Segregation women groups, Transport operators, Community based groups, Repairers, Refurbishers, Recyclers, Manufacturers, Sales Personnel, Administrative staff
• Our reporting & accountability -  Sharing results of project with beneficiaries, partners and community organizations e.g. on CWR's website
• Planning and Coordination - Identification and Registration of vulnerable groups along the waste management value chain. Our vision "1000FOR1" initiative and its benefits and our agenda for enrolling more women on the project, liaising with agencies listed above through training, public awareness and data sharing
• Data Collection - Availability of personnel data for National Development, Ministry of Women & Children's Affairs, Statistical Survey, National Youth Authority, GRA. Our Zero tracking of waste reporting include the registry of all items collected e.g. Quantity, Type, weight, payments made, income generated.
• Indicators - People registered on the project, volumes of waste generated, collected, repaired/refurbished, recycled, manufactured and sold.
• Learning and Improving - Through Management meetings, Seminars, Training sessions, Drama and Plays in local dialects for project members including the informal sector
• Data Management - Creation of Data softare for project neeeds, further development of App and website
• Closing the loop in a circular economy by recycling, re-purposing, manufacturing and saving foreign exchange
• Saving and protecting the environment through our Zero tracking of waste and carbon footprint calculation

The project gives instant social protection through the "1000FOR1" model for the informal sector. The National Health Insurance software, the CWR App for identifying the nearest collection point, activities, services and linked to the Mobile money Payment System

The National Health Insurance Scheme is incoperated into social protection and public service delivery system at the regional level and meets this objective, especially for the informal sector workers, because the National Health Insurance Scheme which CWR is using for the "1000FOR1" incentive based model gives the informal sector, vulnerable groups, waste pickers, women groups acces to one year health insurance including their children under 18 years of age, access to cash and savings through Mobile Money Payment.

The informal sector has immediate access to Mobile Money Payment system anywhere in Ghana even in the remotest area without internet and elctricity facility due to solar charging points. The Mobile phone coverage which is needed to access the Mobile Money is almost 100% in Ghana.

Our solution "1000FOR1" system is a proven and tested social protection program and delivery system that can be replicated in West Africa. Since the Informal sector are the majority in the entrepreneur sector in Africa and have lack of access to proper health care and pension schemes, access to finance and savings, lack of jobs, our project ensures easy access to the above and minimize poverty. The project ensures the easy accessablity to collection centres for waste pickers by setting up these centres country-wide.

Payment for deliverd resources are instant for materials delivered to collection centres through the Mobile Money Payment system

The CWR App will be further developed for the identification of nearest collection centre for waste pickers in their area, access to price list for recycables for transperancy and franchise sytem to prevent monopoly.

The Mobile Money Payment has the data portability in Ghana with all Mobile Money networks, which makes it easy for financial transactions, e.g. no extra charges from one network due to network portability.

The CWR Application to be further developed is interoperable with existing technologies

In Ghana low connectivity environments are almost non-existent.

The Mobile Money Payment providers have sytems in place to enable communications in all main local languages

Our project serves 10000 people at the moment

The new project site which will be opened before the end of 2020 will increase these numbers to 20000

In five years we intend to serve more than 100000 people

Setting up franchise collection points in all Regional Capitals in Ghana

Increase the number of waste pickers and formalization of informal sector through public awareness and training, community entrance programs, durbars, radio and TV programs, Drama and Plays

Next year the direct benificiaries (employed) will reach 2,000 people

The installation of new production machines for recycled materials will affect several 100 thousand people through production of goods made from 100% recycled materials

The financial obstacles in Ghana are mainly the high interest rates (25%) which allowed us only to use in-house generated capital for further investments. The project therefore grew at a slow pace over the years

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic waste pickers are being stigmatized. and therefore there is the need to invest more in advocay, PPE's, special equipment for disinfection

Investment is needed in advocay, PPE's, special equipment for disinfection and psychological grooming and welfare of the waste pickers

The project is trying to obtain grants and/or crowd funding to solve the financial obstacles

Partnership, JV and PPP are also an option

Through our sustainable management of CWR capital gains are reinvested into our projects

62 Full-time staff

30 Part-time staff

500 Contractors

Vivian Ahiayibor - Managing Director, a Recycling Expert with experience of over 20 years in the recycling industry especially in the informal sector and industry on Plastics and e-waste

Jurgen Meinel - Technical Director, an Environmental Engineer with  a professional experience of over 50 years working in South and Central America and the last 40 years in several African Countries on Turn-key Projects for World Bank, European Union, GIZ, UNDP, UNEP, Luxembourg Development Aid, Ireland Development Aid, Austria Development Aid

Scrap Dealers Association Accra to give training for waste pickers, partnership in cable granulation to avoid burning and preverably recruiting waste pickers from the association when vacancies are available

Dagomba Women Association in Kumasi on the fridge rebate program

CARITAS Ghana to assist in setting up collection centres, training personnel and guaranteeing the purchase of collected waste (resource) items.

University of Cape Coast, Adlephi - Berlin, Ghana Cleaner Production Centre  in the European Union e-magin project

Oeko Institut - Germany and GIZ on Incentive based Collection of e-waste in Ghana

CWR's business model is giving green jobs as a social enterprise:

• Through our "1000FOR1"  incentive model which provides value for beneficiaries in the informal sector, waste pickers, women groups, community groups. They benefit from waste collected getting health insurance, pension, access to income (cash), savings and financial services via Mobile Money Payment Scheme
• CWR provides the following to the informal sector:                     Registration on the National Health Insurance Scheme                   Registration on the National Pension Scheme                              Registration on the Tax Identification Number (TIN)                           Registration on the Mobile Money System
• These services above CWR is offering to the informal sector is needed badly in the informal sector which also ensures the health insurance for dependants below the age of 18. The TIN number gives them the opportunity to have a National ID in obtaining passport, driver license, doing banking business etc. The Mobile Money System gives them easy access to savings, money transactions.
• Our franchise system of collection point management gives employment
• The social impact CWR project model is creating could be measured by the number of people put on the Health Insurance, Pension, Mobile Money system, TIN

The initial investments will be financed by selling products produced by CWR. Raising investment capital through crowd-funding and donations/grants when the possibility arises

Through our sustainable model and approach in running the plastic and e-waste recycling industry, in-house financing is being used to build a new plant site now under construction.

Above all the project is socially, environmentally, economically sustainable by giving people a steady and sufficient income with all workers benefits, like paid annual and sick leave including 6 month maternity leave, health insurance, pension scheme. Bonuses are paid at end of year according to performance of the project.

Revenue accrued from in-house operation generated in 2019 was USD 423,000

USD 150,000 Grants

USD 200,000 Dept and/or Equity

USD 800,000

Finalizing new construction site

Purchase of plastic good manufacturing machines