Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Freedom, Flexibility, Precarity, and Vulnerability in the Gig Economy in Africa

Abstract

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 characterised by low incomes and high unemployment rates. As such, it has been touted by governments, third-sector organisations, and the private sector as a novel strategy for economic development. Drawing on a four- year study with sixty-five 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 contributes to 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.

Keywords: Gig Economy; Freedom, Flexibility, Precarity, Vulnerabilit, Job Quality, Africa

JEL Classification: O14, O32, O55, J23, J22, J24, J28, J31, J33, J46, J53, J61, J62, J64, J81, J82, J83