In March last year, we spoke to Belinda Adongo – a Bolt driver who is using her earnings not only to finance her day-to-day life, but also to pay her way through University. So fierce is her drive towards a better future that she juggles work and school without breaking a sweat. Belinda is a good representation of women who are increasingly breaking barriers and getting into previously male dominated fields of work.
Belinda is also a perfect example of women in the gig economy. Most drivers that use the Bolt platform drive for less than 20 hours a week, making them true ‘gig’ workers who are driving to supplement another income, or as an income stream while they are studying, for example.
The gig economy is defined as ‘a labour market characterized by the prevalence of short-term contracts of freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs’. This is not a new thing. In fact, it has been with us long enough, except we have always tended to look at it as second fiddle to mainstream entrepreneurship. With references like ‘side hustle’ and ‘freelancer’, the gig economy has often been viewed as a less serious occupation.
There is nothing second fiddle about it though. It is a trillion-dollar industry with millions of participants throughout the world, with more coming in by the day. And we have technology to thank for this because it has eased accessibility to opportunities and also lowered the barriers to entry. At the very basic level, one can skip overheads like office space and venture into business at home with just a mobile phone, an internet connection, and of course an idea or commodity. More would be needed to scale up but starting out is most crucial.
I would know. As a full time blogger and social media influencer, I’m very much in the gig economy. About 7 years ago, I left formal employment because I felt I was stagnating and craving new challenges. I needed to shake things up and build afresh. At that time people, including myself, mostly blogged for fun although opportunities were beginning to pop here and there. Turns out it was the right time to dive into it since the field was still young. It has been 7 years of learning, growing, and witnessing the growth of my industry in the country. I have watched my colleagues grow and I’ve watched blogging morph from just writing stories for fun to a highly monetizable endeavor.
The gig economy is something that should be embraced and enabled. With the overall unemployment rates standing at slightly over 26.4 percent, and the Kenyan economy’s inability to provide employment opportunities, this is one sector that is increasingly providing alternative economic activities. It is a sector that is gradually transitioning young Kenyans towards more accessible, competitive, and consistent job opportunities.
One sure way of enabling the gig economy is improving technology. In Kenya we are already miles ahead in terms of powerful gadgets and high internet penetration, but more can still be done to get even more people into this space.
Look at Belinda’s case for example. She is able to score more jobs since taxi hailing apps have increased general acceptance of taxis among the people. After all the app is sitting in our phones and is accessible in seconds. As a female driver with obvious safety concerns, she has a safety net in that the Bolt app has an SOS feature for both drivers and clients to get emergency security help should they sense trouble. This is technology.
In my case, I am able to currently work from my village 200km away from Nairobi where 99% of my work comes from. I love the flexibility of choosing when and how to work, and the convenience of conducting all my business on email and phone calls. I can catch up with friends and colleagues in weekly virtual meetups where we unwind, scrutinize the industry, and brainstorm on new ideas. This is technology.
With just these two examples, you can imagine where we are headed as technology gets more advanced. I’m looking at this from a point where we are ushering 5G into the country.
