An Urgent Call for Fair Working Conditions in Africa

In Africa, digital labour platforms provide employment opportunities for the continent’s young and rapidly growing workforce but most platform workers are also subject to unfair working conditions.

In early 2024, Fairwork convened a two-day workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, that brought together worker and union representatives from six African countries to discuss these issues. This Policy Brief (as well as a two-page summary) is one of the outcomes of that meeting. Written by workshop attendees, the brief communicates key insights that emerged from these discussions, outlining five key challenges platform workers in Africa face and offering practical interventions that regional institutions and national government agencies should take to tackle them.

The two-day workshop also led to the creation of a working group, known as the Africa Unions and Worker Representatives (APWR), which now meets regularly to further discuss paths for improvement, and is open to collaboration with other stakeholders in the community. The proceedings of the working group are shared via Twitter and Facebook. The group can also be reached via email at: africanplatformworkers@gmail.com