Digital Work, Human Labour, and Development

Abstract

Employment is considered by many to be a central piece of the development puzzle. The emergence of digital work activities on the African continent has been perceived by observers, policymakers, and development practitioners as a silver bullet for solving the continent’s many socio-economic problems, including joblessness and poverty. Yet, little is known about the impacts of these activities on African workers. This chapter draws from the literature on the quality of work to understand development implications of digital work in Africa. While this body of work has its theoretical origins in high-income countries, there are certain commonalities to be found in low- and middle-income regions. We therefore conceptualize the impacts of two digital economy activities (namely call and contact centre work and remote gig work) on African workers in terms of autonomy at work, bargaining power, freedom of association, economic inclusion, skills upgrading, and labour agency.