Kenya is no longer just a market where people drive for Uber or sell goods on Jumia. It has become one of Africa’s most consequential laboratories for platform-based work, a place where the line between informal hustle and structured digital employment grows thinner by the year.
Bolt, the on-demand mobility platform, has released its flagship Gig Economy Report produced in partnership with Ipsos, the company’s first structured contribution of data-driven research to the national conversation on digital platforms and income generation.
The study covers Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, and Tanzania, and maps the scale, composition, and human reality of this shift. The findings reveal an economy within an economy: one billion dollars in annual market value in Kenya alone, 1.5 million gig workers, and a sector that now accounts for roughly 0.85% of the country’s GDP.
What Kenya’s Labour Market Actually Looks Like
Kenya’s labour force reached approximately 23 million people in 2023, a figure that has climbed steadily for a decade. The problem is not the size of the workforce. It is where the jobs are.
In 2024, an estimated 782,300 new jobs were created. Around 90% of them, roughly 703,700 positions — came from the informal sector, according to provisional data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. Formal employment has not kept pace with population growth, and the gap falls disproportionately on young people.
Youth unemployment in Kenya sits at nearly 12%, more than double the national average of 5.4%. That gap has narrowed slightly since 2020, but it remains wide enough to push hundreds of thousands of young Kenyans toward any income pathway that does not require a lengthy hiring process, a formal contract, or a long wait.
Gig platforms offer exactly that. Between 2015 and 2022, the number of active digital labour platforms operating in Kenya grew from 11 to more than 40. Government programmes have accelerated this trajectory: the Ajira Digital Programme trained over 516,500 people by April 2024, while the Jitume Digital Hub network reached around 28,000 users across 117 centres by mid-year.
“There are no jobs, that is why I decided to join,” a Freelancer, Kenya.
E-Commerce Leads, Ride-Hailing Follows
Across the five countries surveyed, e-commerce commands the largest share of gig activity at 36%, followed by ride-hailing at 24%. Freelancing accounts for 18%, remote work for 12%, and micro-tasks — small, repetitive online jobs such as data transcription, for the remaining 10%.
In Kenya specifically, e-commerce holds 42% of the gig market. Ride-hailing takes 20%, freelancing 17%, micro-tasks 10%, and remote work 9%. The market is not monolithic. Each segment draws a different worker profile and serves a different economic function.
Kenya’s total gig economy market size stands at just over $1 billion, against a national GDP of $120.9 billion in 2024. Smartphone penetration of 30–40% provides the infrastructure on which all of it runs.
Ride-Hailing: A Primary Income Source, Not a Side Gig
Perhaps the most striking finding in the Kenya data concerns how central ride-hailing has become to household finances. Among Kenyan drivers surveyed, 53% identify ride-hailing as their primary source of income. A further 47% use it to supplement earnings from other activities.
The contrast with neighbouring markets is sharp. Only 25% of drivers in Nigeria and 30% in South Africa treat ride-hailing as their main livelihood. In Kenya, a disruption, a fuel price spike, a regulatory change, a platform policy shift — hits household budgets directly.
The income distribution reinforces this dependency. A third of Kenyan ride-hailing workers derive less than 25% of their income from the platform, but a combined 44% draw between a quarter and three-quarters of their earnings from it. Another 20% depend on ride-hailing for more than 75% of their total income.
What draws people to the sector in the first place? The survey is unambiguous. Around 28% of respondents cited financial independence and self-sufficiency as their primary motivation. Another 21% pointed to the ability to earn on their own terms — flexible hours, no fixed schedule, no manager. A further 19% entered specifically to build skills and progress professionally.
Dimmy Kanyankole, Bolt’s Senior General Manager for East Africa, says the findings capture a structural shift rather than a temporary trend.
“As digital platforms continue to evolve, ride-hailing is increasingly becoming an important source of income and economic empowerment for many Kenyans,” he said. “These findings reinforce the role that platform-based work plays in enabling people to earn flexibly while supporting their livelihoods. At Bolt, we are proud to be part of this transformation by creating opportunities for thousands of drivers to access reliable earning opportunities through our platform.”
Engagement data shows this is not a transient workforce. Half of surveyed drivers have been active for more than a year. Another 24% have worked in ride-hailing for six to twelve months. The sector retains workers — and, by the motivations data, it attracts them for reasons that go beyond financial desperation.
Gender representation, however, remains a persistent and uncomfortable gap. Women account for just 3% of ride-hailing participants in Kenya, a figure that exposes structural barriers around safety, vehicle access, and cultural norms that no single initiative has yet resolved.
“Driving is what keeps food on the table, but nowadays the fuel prices make it hard to depend on it alone,” Driver, Nairobi.
What Drivers Say They Have Gained
Survey responses and focus group discussions produce a consistent picture of benefit across four dimensions: financial empowerment, flexibility, skills development, and improved living standards.
The headline number is 54%, the share of Kenyan ride-hailing participants who report that their standard of living has improved significantly since joining the sector. A further 44% describe a slight improvement. Taken together, 98% of respondents reported some positive change, a figure that reflects genuine economic uplift even as it raises questions about the low baseline from which many entered.
Soyinka Witness, Strategy Director at Ipsos, says the livelihoods data points to something more durable than temporary income relief.
“More than half of ride-hailing drivers rely on these platforms as their primary source of income, while many others use them to supplement existing earnings,” she said. “Respondents also cited financial independence and the ability to earn on their own terms as key motivations for joining the gig economy. Notably, over half reported a significant improvement in their livelihoods, underscoring the meaningful economic impact digital platforms can have for individuals and households.”
Drivers describe earning daily rather than monthly, gaining control over their schedules, and using platform income to fund household essentials — rent, school fees, food — that were previously out of reach.
Flexibility ranks as a core attraction. Focus group participants highlighted the ability to switch off the app when needed, structure work around family obligations, and chase peak demand on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
Skills development features prominently too. Drivers say the work builds client management, financial discipline, and a business-owner mindset. Informal savings groups — chamas — surface repeatedly in focus group discussions as a coping mechanism. One driver described contributing 1,000 shillings daily to a shared pool with a partner.
Electric vehicle adoption adds another layer. Drivers who have switched to electric motorcycles report meaningfully lower operating costs compared to petrol, improving net earnings without requiring longer hours.
The Wider Economic Ripple Effect
Ride-hailing’s contribution extends beyond individual earnings. Drivers purchase fuel, pay for vehicle maintenance, and consume local services. Their spending feeds a network of micro-businesses — mechanics, fuel retailers, food vendors — across Nairobi and other urban centres.
The financial inclusion angle is equally significant. Most ride-hailing transactions in Kenya flow through M-Pesa. This generates a transaction history for drivers who may never have held a formal bank account — a record that platforms and financial institutions can use to extend credit, savings products, and insurance.
According to the World Bank’s Global Findex Database, 40% of adults in sub-Saharan Africa held a mobile money account in 2024, up from 27% in 2021. The share of adults with formal savings reached 35%, a 12 percentage point jump over three years. Ride-hailing does not drive this trend alone, but it accelerates it by pulling informal workers into digital payment systems.
The broader pan-African picture supports the Kenya story. Sub-Saharan Africa processes over 70% of global mobile money transactions. Platforms like Bolt, Uber, and local alternatives rely on M-PESA, MTN MoMo, and Airtel Money not just for convenience but as the operational backbone of driver payouts and passenger payments.
What the Regulatory and Platform Landscape Looks Like Now
Kenya has moved further than most African markets on ride-hailing regulation. The Digital Taxi (Owners, Drivers & Passengers) Regulations, 2022, cap platform commission at 18% and require transparent terms on driver activation, deactivation, licensing, and data control. The rules constrain the most exploitative practices and create a floor of platform accountability — though enforcement remains a work in progress.
Bolt’s “Bundle Ya Deree” programme pairs vehicle financing partnerships with M-Kopa with weekly fuel discounts at Shell outlets. Safaricom has introduced tailored data bundles and insurance products for boda boda operators and ride-hailing drivers. Uber, following a Kenya Revenue Authority directive, now issues eTIMS invoices — integrating drivers into the formal tax system without requiring them to set up independent tax accounts.
Electric motorcycles, led by Bolt and Spiro, are entering the market at scale, offering lower operating costs and the prospect of higher net earnings. Kenya’s policy environment, while imperfect, places it among the more progressive regulatory frameworks on the continent.
The Tensions That Remain
The report does not present an uncritical picture. Earnings volatility is a live concern — driven by fuel prices, platform algorithm changes, and rising driver supply on major platforms. Some drivers supplement ride-hailing income with additional work precisely because platform earnings alone prove insufficient. That 47% of Kenyan drivers use ride-hailing as secondary income, not primary, tells its own story.
The gender gap is the sector’s most glaring structural failure. With 97% of Kenyan drivers identifying as male and just 3% as female, ride-hailing remains one of the most male-dominated corners of the economy. Witness flags this as an urgent priority: “The gender disparity observed in the sector highlights an opportunity to expand inclusion and participation.” The barriers — safety concerns, difficulty accessing vehicle financing, cultural expectations — are well-documented. What is missing is coordinated action across platforms, lenders, and government to dismantle them.
The World Bank has noted that platform-based income frequently complements rather than replaces stable employment. The Kenyan data bears this out. For a majority of drivers, ride-hailing is the primary income source. But the 47% for whom it is supplementary are often hedging against exactly the volatility that the primary earners cannot avoid.
Where the Sector Goes Next
The study points to four trajectories shaping Africa’s gig mobility sector over the next five years.
E-mobility and green transition. Electric motorcycles and vehicles reduce the fuel cost burden that squeezes driver margins. Platform investment in EV adoption will accelerate as battery costs fall and charging infrastructure expands across Nairobi and other urban hubs.
Financial product integration. Platforms are exploring micro-lending, savings tools, and insurance offerings for drivers — products that use transaction data to serve workers who lack access to traditional banking. Kanyankole frames this as central to Bolt’s direction: “By investing in technology, safety, and driver-focused initiatives, we aim to strengthen the gig economy while helping drivers maintain the flexibility and independence that make platform work so valuable.”
Safety and formal regulation. Governments and platforms are moving, however gradually, toward formalised driver protection standards and standardised licensing frameworks. Kenya’s 18% commission cap provides a template others may follow. Witness describes the report’s findings as evidence for precisely this kind of policy action: “These insights offer valuable evidence for stakeholders seeking to better understand how platform-based work is shaping employment, income resilience, and economic opportunity in Kenya.”
Ecosystem diversification. Ride-hailing platforms are expanding into parcel delivery, food logistics, and on-demand services. The boundaries between mobility, e-commerce, and logistics are dissolving. For drivers, diversification creates new income streams. For platforms, it spreads revenue risk.
