The nature of work is becoming increasingly digitised. Almost every function can now be hired remotely. The rise of fast, stable internet penetration, conducive work environments, and subsequently skilled talent, coinciding with a booming working age population, establishes Africa as a promising source market for exceptional fractional talent.
In the World Economic Forum’s newly released white paper, The Rise of Global Digital Jobs, a deep analysis forecasted that by 2030, these global digital jobs are estimated to grow by around 25% to over 90 million roles.
Interestingly, a large proportion of these roles are not necessarily tech related, and fall under traditionally non-technical positions such as accounting, legal and finance roles.
The overarching sentiment acknowledges the fact that employers can and should be tapping into new source markets in a responsible and skill-specific manner.
Employers can widen their talent pool by recruiting workers regardless of geographic location. And countries can benefit from economic growth. This includes “advanced economies facing talent shortages and emerging economies facing youth bulges” - World Economic Forum
According to the World Economic Forum, apart from AI and machine learning skills, a large demand for sustainability specialists, business intelligence analysts, information security analysts, fintech engineers, data scientists, robotics engineers and agricultural equipment operators is expected to emerge over the next five years.
Using workforce technology and collaboration tools, organisations can leverage opportunities by aligning project needs with skill-specific hiring strategies and fractional workers worldwide, fostering diverse perspectives by uniting people from various cultural backgrounds.
The freelance economy is evolving, fast. The integration of freelancers into full-time teams is increasingly attractive, and new forms of team structures are evolving through fractional, skill-specific strategies. The rise of African freelancers holds huge potential for African economies and may very well be a solution to the technical skills gap globally.
At Rafiki, we believe the future of work lies in the freelance economy in Africa. We've uncovered significant pain points in sourcing, recruitment, how teams are structured, and difficulties freelancers and contract workers face in Africa. We're obsessed about the space and passionate about providing value and opportunities for the next generation of tech talent across Africa.
If you’re looking for flexible support for your business, Rafiki specialises in fractional design, development, and marketing support on a fully-managed or direct-to-employer basis.
You can read the full report on the World Economic Forum’s website here.
