The gig economy is good but invest in education and SMEs
Africa’s gig economy has its place and use. In a gig economy, many people are self-employed, receive pay for limited contracts, some are on zero-hour contracts and seek more than one source of income. PHOTO | FILE
Google.org Foundation is investing $50 million in researching the implications of a gig economy. However, we may have some of the answers from Arusha to Dakar and Cairo to Mbabane.
African countries have been emulating the Gig Economy for a while, what with a prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work compared with long-term, permanent jobs. In 2015, for example, 12 million young Africans entered the labour force but there were only 3.1 million new jobs. What some see as a solution for employing the other nine million is emulating Silicon Valley and creating technology jobs.
