By BRIAN CRAWFORD
Black people make up a quarter of workers in the U.S. “gig economy.” This sector of labor represents just over a third of U.S. workers. Temporary work, individual contractors, freelancers, the side hustle, and gig economy are all terms that describe a form of labor increasingly favored by capitalism. This is labor that is unregulated, without benefits, disposable and thoroughly exploited.
“Side hustles” are common as a means of supplementing income, but for many this is their only employment.
In Africa, most people are trapped in these jobs. Africans have experienced centuries of super exploitation and always fought. Workers on the continent are organizing against their current conditions.
A significant development emerged from Kenya, an outsourcing hub for the tech industry. Workers who perform artificial intelligence training or content modification for companies such as Open AI and META formed the African Content Modification Union. They are demanding an end to the exploitation of African workers by U.S. companies.
Content moderators who have been diagnosed with PTSD and depression after viewing content on the platform have sued META. Besides psychological damage, the members of the tech industry are not credited for their work and are grossly underpaid ($2.20 an hour).
Facebook has attempted to silence Daniel Montaung, who helped organized the moderators union after he became a whistleblower. Color of Change president Rashad Robinson told Time magazine that Facebook thinks “Black people are property to be controlled.” Frances Hagen, a whistleblower who leaked Facebook documents, did not face this pressure to be silent. Hagen is white and Montaung is Black. There is no subtlety here. This is an effort to keep Blacks, in this case Africans, in their place.
Online platforms have attracted many urban workers with the promise of freedom and independence with flexible hours. But while it saves them from unemployment, in reality there is no freedom. Companies outsource work and use this to shield themselves from any legal responsibility for labor practices. This arrangement lowers production costs, but they provide no overtime pay and no benefits, and they expect plausible deniability of all that takes place in the shop
The flexible schedule means workers can be called in at any time. Regulations that apply to workers’ safety, wages, labor disputes, and benefits such as health care are not available. These workers are more likely to experience greater incidences of injury and poor physical and mental health.
While these workers are classified as independent contractors, they have no control. Everything is dictated by the company, which does not consider them employees, while it profits from their labor. The tech industry, the press, and governments portray this as a way to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. No boots are provided.
Globally, 61% of labor is performed by workers in the gig economy. In Africa these workers represent 85% of the workforce. The rate is over 90% in Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and the Central African Republic. According to the Brookings Institute, “The global gig economy market size was estimated at $556.7 billion in 2024, with Africa experiencing significant growth.”
Roots of underdevelopment
Africa’s position in the world economy has had a direct impact on labor. Colonization left the continent under developed. Low levels of infrastructure and industry have prevailed since. This has hampered advancement toward large scale manufacturing. In post-colonial Africa many countries’ economies were dependent on one export such as agriculture or its mineral wealth. To a degree some countries such as oil producers could manage for a time but when the price of these commodities fell so did the country’s fortunes. International Monetary Fund and World Bank conditions for the loans meant cuts to social spending such as education.While poverty reduction was one of the stated goals the opposite has been the case. There has been increased inequality, and cuts to education has meant low level of skills and high unemployment.
Work and struggle
Agricultural work, the self employed, seasonal workers, family enterprises, tech workers are employed in the gig economy. These are not transitional jobs for workers on the continent. Young Africans represent one in five people looking for their first job globally. Their anger and frustration have been expressed in protests against poverty, unemployment and the implementation of austerity measures. In Kenya and Nigeria there were mass protests last summer. In both cases, these mass mobilizations were met with armed violence, resulting in the death of dozens. The response is typical of the state’s contempt for workers in general.
Drivers for online platforms are challenging working conditions and pay in Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. They are organizing strikes against ride-share companies such as Uber. In large countries— South Africa and Nigeria—unions have made an effort to organize and negotiate on behalf of these workers. Individually, African unions cannot face these tech companies. Nigeria’s Amalgamated Union, which represents ride-share drivers, joined with unions from other countries including in the U.S. to form the International Alliance of APP-Based Transport Workers. Representatives from 23 countries attended the founding convention in 2020. This approach can be a part of the solution.
Capitalism will always devise means of exploiting labor. As artificial intelligence grows, together with contract employment, workers must organize. The power of the African working class can only be realized through the development of class consciousness and organization founded on this basis.
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