The gig economy in Africa has grown significantly as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, serving as a stopgap for consumers when businesses shut down during lockdowns, and offering employment for those shut out from formal and even informal opportunities. But women are being prevented from taking full advantage of these opportunities, because of the ways in which long-standing gender disparities are manifesting themselves in digital platforms. A new project by Caribou Digital bears this out. Through interviews and participatory videos, the digital economy research and advisory firm collected the experiences of people who earn their living on digital platforms to understand how the Covid-19 pandemic has shaped their experience. The project forms part of their ongoing research, supported by the Mastercard Foundation, into “platform livelihood.”
SOURCE: QUARTZ AFRICA