Unlike the traditional 9-to-5 workforce, today’s worker is defined by flexibility. Picture a young motorcyclist navigating Nairobi’s morning traffic with passengers before switching to food deliveries during the day and completing freelance tasks online in the evening before attending college classes.
This is not a vision of the future. It is the reality for an estimated 1.5 million Kenyans whose livelihoods are powered by digital platforms.
For decades, employment followed a familiar model: one employer, fixed working hours, a physical workplace and a monthly salary.
Kenya’s labour laws were built around that reality. Technology has since transformed the labour market, giving rise to a dynamic platform economy now valued at an estimated Sh133 billion. Yet regulation has struggled to keep pace with this rapid change.
The central policy question is no longer whether digital platforms have transformed work, but how governments should regulate them. Should platform workers be treated as employees or independent contractors? The answer will shape the future of work, investment and innovation.
A significant milestone was reached at the 114th Session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva, where governments, employers and workers’ representatives from more than 165 countries, including Kenya, adopted Convention No. 193 on Decent Work in the Platform Economy. Rather than prescribing a single model, the Convention gives countries the flexibility to develop solutions that reflect their own labour market realities.
For Kenya, this presents a unique opportunity. Instead of adopting rigid frameworks developed elsewhere, the country can build a regulatory model that protects workers while supporting innovation and economic growth.
Achieving this begins with understanding what the platform economy actually is. It is not a single industry but a diverse digital ecosystem comprising ride hailing, food delivery, courier services, e-commerce and global freelance marketplaces. At their core, these businesses are technology platforms that connect service providers with customers in real time.
Treating them as traditional taxi companies or courier firms overlooks how digital marketplaces function. Applying outdated industrial regulations to technology platforms risks undermining the efficiency, affordability and flexibility that have made them successful.
The diversity of platform work also demands a more nuanced approach. A software developer serving overseas clients from Eldoret operates under very different conditions from a delivery rider navigating Nairobi’s roads. Their risks, work patterns and expectations are not the same. A one-size-fits-all regulatory framework is therefore unlikely to achieve fair outcomes.
Kenya has every reason to get this right. E-commerce and ride hailing account for more than half of the country’s Sh133 billion platform economy, making it one of the fastest-growing sectors in the country. More importantly, it provides an economic lifeline for thousands of young people entering a labour market that cannot generate enough formal employment opportunities each year.
Digital platforms have become an important source of income, entrepreneurship and skills development. They allow individuals to build businesses, earn flexible incomes and participate in the digital economy. While they are not a complete solution to youth unemployment, they have become an integral part of Kenya’s employment landscape.
Regulatory certainty is therefore essential. Investors are attracted to predictable business environments. A clear, balanced and forward-looking framework will encourage further investment, stimulate local innovation and safeguard the livelihoods of millions of Kenyans who depend on digital platforms.
As Kenya considers ratifying Convention No. 193, policymakers should also listen carefully to the people whose livelihoods depend on these platforms. Evidence consistently shows that many platform workers value flexibility, independence and control over their schedules. For many, the ability to choose when and how they work is the primary attraction.
Automatically classifying all platform workers as traditional employees could unintentionally remove these advantages by introducing rigid schedules and exclusive employment arrangements. Such an approach could reduce earning opportunities for students, part-time workers and those combining multiple income streams.
Fortunately, Convention No. 193 avoids prescribing a universal solution. It recognises that labour markets differ from country to country and encourages governments to develop approaches that reflect their own economic realities.
Kenya should seize this flexibility. Rather than importing regulatory models from developed economies, policymakers should design solutions suited to a labour market characterised by high levels of informality and one of the world’s most advanced mobile money ecosystems.
This creates opportunities to rethink social protection.
Traditional pension and insurance systems depend on employer payroll deductions, yet many platform workers earn income from multiple digital platforms on a daily basis. Portable social protection financed through small contributions linked to digital earnings could provide a more practical alternative. Workers would build pension and health benefits regardless of which platform they use.
Safety also deserves greater attention. Partnerships between digital platforms, county governments and insurers can expand affordable occupational accident cover for riders and drivers while investments in safe rest areas and electric motorcycle charging infrastructure would improve working conditions without limiting growth.
Developing effective regulation will require continuous dialogue between government, platform operators and worker representatives. Labour policy should be informed by evidence and grounded in the lived experiences of the people it seeks to protect.
Ultimately, implementing Convention No. 193 is about more than complying with an international framework. It is an opportunity for Kenya to shape a modern labour market that balances worker protection with innovation and competitiveness.
The future of work has already arrived. The challenge now is ensuring that public policy evolves just as quickly. By developing regulations that reflect Kenya’s realities, protect worker choice and encourage responsible innovation, the country can build a platform economy that attracts investment, expands opportunity and secures sustainable livelihoods for millions of its citizens.
Kiplimo Kigen is Global Affairs Lead, Glovo Kenya
