The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) has revealed that online workers in Kenya make up about 5% of the population with an average earning of $188 per month.
The study, titled ‘National Study on Digital and Digitally Enabled Work in Kenya,’ also lists the following earnings according to hourly average pay as well as other payment mechanisms:
- $18.16 is the hourly pay for online workers
- $23.40 on a work basis
- $68.50 on a weekly basis
- $64.53 on a project basis
___________________________________________________________________
SEE ALSO: Kenyans Borrow $10.9 Million Daily from Fuliza, the Leading African Overdraft Service on a Mobile Money Wallet
___________________________________________________________________
The survey was conducted by Ajira Digital, an official government program put in place to help find employment opportunities for young Kenyans.
The program, run by KEPSA and funded by the Mastercard Foundation, says its overall aim is to make Kenya a freelance hub and a global destination for digital work by the year 2022.
According to Carole Kariuki, who is CEO of KEPSA, 63% of adults across Kenya are aware of the gig economy. Moreover, 29%, representing 7.3 million people, were aware of the Ajira Digital Program compared to 5.5 million (14%) in 2019.
The survey has also made several important findings about online employment:
- 1,209,506 people (5% of the Kenyan population) are online workers
- 402, 284 were female
- 1,007,277 were between 18-35 years old
The report has done a further breakdown of online workers and their skills:
- 461,253 digital marketers
- 141,021 transcribers
- 250,000 article writers
- 76,291 software developers
- 64,100 data scientists
Critically, the survey found:
- 31% of people work online because of lack of formal employment
- 21% prefer online work because it provides convenience and flexibility
- 18% work online because it makes it possible to work part-time
Top 3 barriers identified that prevent people from working online are:
- Expensive Internet costs (53% of respondents)
- Lack of skills (52%)
- Lack of access to WiFi or connectivity (21%)
For women, family barriers as primary caregivers, cultural barriers, and cyberbullying are some of the challenges of working online.
A recent survey by Chainalysis revealed that Kenya leads the world in P2P crypto trade. The latest report by KEPSA provides great insight into some of the reasons why this massive crypto adoption is taking place in the country.
___________________________________________________________________
