Countries in Africa have the lowest coverage of social protection and adequate health care despite having an enormous need for such programmes and policies (ILO, 2019). The availability of social protection services is mostly limited to workers and their families in the formal sector. Nonetheless, 85.8% of employment is informal, leaving communities, often concentrated in rural areas, vulnerable to economic and political shocks and other crises (Beri, 2018). Extending social protection to workers in the informal economy is one shared priority among many African nations (ILO, 2017). Societal benefits of social protection schemes and social welfare are well documented and range from supporting and promoting human development (e.g. healthcare and education) to building political stability and social peace. Developing effective social assistance schemes, building states’ and institutional capacity, prioritizing fragile states, and integrating shock-responsive features to climate change and the increase of migrant workers can help ensure that any individual or household in need of social protection has access to it (ILO, 2017). Promoting and enforcing a rights-based approach to social protection brings the African continent several steps closer to reaching its full potential.