Kenyans working online are earning an average of Ksh20,774 monthly, according to a new survey, which also indicates the number of people working online is growing exponentially. According to the National Study on Digital and Digitally Enabled Work in Kenya, the average hourly pay for online work is Ksh2,001. On work basis the pay is Ksh2,579 while weekly pay stands at Ksh7,549,00 compared to per-project earnings of Ksh7,110.
With overall earnings running into hundreds of millions, the digital economy has created demand for online payment services in a market dominated by foreign-based money-transfer platforms. To make it easier for Kenyans working in the digital space to get payments, Co-operative Bank has launched an online payment service that will also help these digital entrepreneurs to expand their customer base through the online card payment service. The Cooperative Bank e-Commerce solution takes away the payment troubles both in the digital marketplace and offline – free and without the need for integration.
Meanwhile, the National Study on Digital and Digitally Enabled Work in Kenya revealed that 1,209,506 people, or 5% of the adult population in Kenya, are digital workers, rising from 638,400 or (3%) in 2019. Female workers accounted for 402,284 while workers between the ages of 18 to 35 made up 1,007,277 of those doing digital and digitally enabled jobs.
In terms of basic or intermediate skills, the study estimates that there are 461,523 digital marketers, 141,021 transcribers and about 250,000 article writers working online in Kenya. In terms of advanced skills, Kenya has 76,921 software developers and 64,100 data scientists working online. Other opportunity areas captured in the study under various skills categories include academic and scientific writing, transcription, virtual assistants, online research and surveys, coding, and data science activities.
The survey, commissioned by the Ajira Digital Program and conducted by Tifa Research, was launched on 20th September 2021 by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA).
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Mr Joe Mucheru, the Cabinet Secretary Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth said, the Ajira Digital Program has introduced unemployed but skilled youth to the gig economy where they create work for themselves and compete globally through multiple online work platforms.
Ajira Digital Program, he added, had partnered with the Judiciary through the Ministry of ICT, Innovation, and youth to create work opportunities for youth where 61 courts have been digitized through data entry, scanning and transcription of documents in 183 court stations and 7 tribunals.
Carole Kariuki, KEPSA Chief Executive Officer said that 63% of adult Kenyans nationally were aware of the digital gig economy and that awareness of the Ajira Digital Program had increased from 5.5 million people (14%) in 2019 to 7.3 million people (29%) in 2021.
The study notes that (31%) of workers who have adopted digital and digitally enabled work prefer it because of lack of formal employment opportunities. It says 21% prefer to work online due to flexibility and convenience of digital work and another 18% because of the ability to work part time.
And as they work to earn a decent living, Cooperative Bank e-Commerce solution will come in handy to handle the payments through its online card payment service.
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