Gig Sector in the African Economy: Frameworks, Challenges and Prospects

Godwin Nwaobi ()

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: Notably, Africa countries have enjoyed relatively strong economic growth for the past years (decade) mainly because of impressive global demand for primary commodities. Unfortunately, Africa’s economic growth had failed to generate many good jobs and thus postponing the benefits of the demographic divided of a large working-age population. Consequently, digital (online) gig work is rapidly increasing new form of work that poses tough challenges and tradeoffs for African governments. Essentially, these gig jobs could be a stepping stone to better-quality jobs for young or low-skilled workers by way of assisting them to learn critical digital skills that closes the digital divide. However, gig workers are not usually protected by labor regulations against unfair practices or abuse or injuries at work. Therefore, this paper argues that given the low levels of implementation of labor laws in African countries, future polices should consider various stakeholders in the gig ecosystem (from both supply and demand sides) as well as digital platforms operation. In other words, as several continents have made the transition to technology-enabled platforms for services; Africa should not be left out of the digital boom for the sake of prosperity and sustainable development

Keywords: Gig Work; Digital Work; Africa; Digital Platforms; Microtask; Labour Policies; Regulations; African Governments; Labour Market; Digital Currency; Gig Supply; Gig Demand Gig Services; Policy Makers; Labour Laws Development; Economic Growth; Online Work (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E20 E24 E26 E61 E62 G23 H24 H55 I30 I31 J45 J65 J80 K31 M13 O15 O30 O38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-03-23
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-iue, nep-lma and nep-pay
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