The story of unemployment in Zimbabwe is beyond any commentary I can present. I can never be sure or trust in any figure thatd I read but I am usually content if the figure I’m shown is above 80%. This isn’t just because it’s the belief now, it’s because the bulk of the alumni in my undergrad graduation year are not formally employed yet. More than half a decade later, the investment in school starts to feel like a poor decision. Should we have taken the fees and started a chicken project instead? A tuckshop? Despite the obvious challenge that we face as Zimbabwe, a recent interest of mine has led me to a train of thought that the current Zimbabwean situation could be the breeding ground for a great opportunity.
The opportunity I believe is now presented is one that comes from a growing sector in business and entrepreneurship in the world as well as large cultural changes in the way the internet is used. The world and how it works has been growing around the terms Sharing (shared) Economy, On-Demand Economy or Gig Economy. What is that you ask? I would personally summarise it by saying that it represents an ecosystem of business that can be gained and grown through each gigabyte of data used. Due to the fact that I don’t foresee any university student taking my definition and quoting it with a “(A. Moyo 2019)” I will look for a couple of internet definitions for the Sharing Economy, Gig Economy and On-demand Economy.
a labour market characterized by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs.
The On-Demand Economy is defined as the economicactivity created by technology companies that fulfill consumer demand via the immediate provisioning of goods and services. Supply is driven via an efficient, intuitive digital mesh layered on top of existing infrastructure networks
Flickr / Harold Navarro, Jul 13, 2014 , Business Insider
Ultimately it has many names and that could be a post in itself. It is built on us becoming the resources that the world needs without belonging to anyone and is built on the purest part of economics, Demand & supply. A world where those with skills and resources are easily linked to those who need them. The first world has given rise to this form of business through the use of technology that they have been eager to invest in. This is because it is built on platforms.
Platforms that use the gig economy as a base include Uber, Fiverr, Taskrabbit and AirBnB where individuals commit their skillsets or resources into a free market world. The customers can have direct contact with suppliers and platforms take a commission on activity. Zimbabwe has had several of these coming up of late including Technites (from Cassava Smartech), Lytee, Hwindi and VAYA.
The Big Idea
Unlike the first world where the shared economy has challenged the status quo, created greater choice for consumers and potentially cost thousands if not millions of traditional jobs the opposite is true for Africa and especially Zimbabwe. ZImbabwe’s unemployment means that the growth of the shared economy is bound to present more jobs that it can take away. It sounds like a great place to invest.
At its core, the technology that houses most shared economy businesses is not proprietary. That means it can be duplicated without anyone landing a lawsuit. While you cannot create another Uber, there is no harm in creating a similar platform that allows you to connect riders to vehicle owners. Additionally, countries like India, China, and Russia that have been heavily invested in presenting software solutions have gone and made it easier by providing off the shelf products that allow you to have your own Airbnb up and running in days.
The opportunity
In an ideal economy where you have your normal 9-5 job and weekends off, the shared economy represents an opportunity to make additional income. In Zimbabwe, we can change the general culture and teach each other that you can get trustworthy house-help through an app, that the safest form of transportation is your neighbour who registered to drive on a ride-hailing platform and that the feedback that we give builds such platforms. If we get to a point where we start to trust the process and trust to look to shared economy platforms for our resources we will be in a good position. Also, there will be so many jobs available on these tasks. Shared economy platforms are generally preferred to working in the first world because you can make more than an average salary by working more flexible hours. I want you to take note of the fact that I have intentionally used a comparison with flexible and not fewer hours. Shared economy platforms allow you to tailor your work around your life…work allows you to live your life in the time left after work.
Zimbabwe’s near uniqueness where the bulk of the formally unemployed are certified and/or skilled is also very ideal for the growth of Shared economy platforms. If one decided to create a platform similar to Fiverr or Upwork and advertise the skills of graphic designers from Harare alone, there would be hundreds if not thousands of willing designers. This is just an example the potentially looks a tiny section of the talent and skills available in Zimbabwe.
Numerous economies have strived thanks to taking advantage of the opportunity presented by unemployment. Income earning opportunities have been created by so many of the shared economy platforms and we could easily do the same. Go Jek has gone and create hundreds of thousands of jobs across different categories within their app. I’ll put together a couple of articles to show how many such platforms exist, from industry or service focused platforms like AirBnB (short term accommodation) and Lyft (mobility) to platforms that cover the entire spectrum of the shared economy through platforms like GoJek and WeChat.
This together with the fact that our country is highly dependent on mobile money and digital payments really mean that our adoption of a future in the Gig economy would be easy. Another important factor will be confidence. User and service provider confidence are big factors in the success of such services. It means as individuals we have to play our part; service providers must put their best foot forward and consumers must be ready to pay. Competition in such sections always results in the greatest benefit falling to consumers as service providers start competing on price points. After all, it is quite difficult to compete anywhere else, service provision can easily be duplicated and independent contractors can easily set their own amount of effort in a task.
Being able to see opportunity under any circumstance is the difference between most individuals who succeed and those who wallow in the gallows of depression. When Ecocash started we all didn’t think it would be a viable business venture as it became. Those who sold airtime in the early 2000s quickly became homeowners faster than the employed and became businessmen. The goal is to continuously improve and overturn our challenges. #kaizenYOU
Business Blunders & Brilliance 