Between a rock and a hard place: Freedom, flexibility, precarity and vulnerability in the gig economy in Africa

Abstract

<jats:p> The world of work is changing. Communications technologies and digital platforms have enabled some types of work to be delivered from anywhere in the world by anyone with a computer and an internet connection. This digitally-mediated work brings jobs to parts of the world traditionally characterized by low incomes and high unemployment rates. As such, it has been touted by governments, third-sector organizations, and the private sector as a novel strategy of economic development. Drawing on a four-year study with 65 workers in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda, we examine the development implications of the gig economy on labour in Africa. We offer four analytical development dimensions through which platform-based remote work impacts the lives and livelihoods of African workers, i.e. freedom, flexibility, precarity and vulnerablity. We argue that these dimensions should be understood in a continuum to better explain the working conditions and lives of workers in the gig economy. </jats:p>

Digital Platform Workers under COVID-19: A Subaltern Perspective

“…A substantial share of these workers is located in the Global South: citing Codagnone [11], Heeks [26] notes there is an estimated 45 million registered workers on Western-based online labour platforms, and uses surveys by Agrawal [2] and Lehdonvirta [31] to estimate 36 million of these being from the Global South with a prevalence in India, the Philippines, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Digital work is rapidly diffusing across African [3] and Latin American countries [20]. A recent projection says that in China, up to 400 million people (half the labour force) could be gig workers by 2036.…”

Orchestrating Smart Cities, New Disruptive Business Models and Informal Enterprises

“…The informal economy is complex and to paraphrase Dungy and Ndofor (2019) [30], is the, "… the utopian and the dystopian, the connected and disjointed, structure and chaos, legitimate yet illegal, legal yet illegitimate all residing together in one big tent…". Furthermore, informal work brings freedom, flexibility, precarity and vulnerability into the lives of African gig workers [31].…”

“…Technology has created a range of new opportunities in the gig economy, a demand-driven independent, short-term or a task-by-task economic activities that payment is received upon the completion of the assignment. The opportunities are available to anyone in the world and provided for anyone who demands them [38]. The operating models of the online gig platforms can be divided into 'on-demand' work like ride hailing drivers like Uber taxis for instance and 'crowd-work' which includes for instance a Kenyan online gig worker, providing translation services for a client based anywhere in the world through Upwork.…”

“…In spite all this, there have been challenges that are associated with working conditions in platforms and online gigs [49][50][51][52]. These challenges range from low remuneration, social isolation as a result of having to work alone, working unsocial and irregular hours to meet strict deadlines, overwork, sleep deprivation and exhaustion as a result of the gig workers having to balance the gigs and their normal responsibilities [53].…”

“…Digital technologies and internet connectivity are playing a major role in making better cities that they are now considered as a panacea for solving Africa's chronic unemployment [3] and other associated challenges. As a result of this thinking, and to address these and emerging challenges, the smart city concept offers unusual opportunities for diverse countries [4].…”