Reimagining an Ubuntu-inspired Model to Address Precarity and Vulnerability in the African Gig Economy

The gig economy in Africa presents a complex landscape, offering flexible work opportunities while exposing workers to precarious conditions. This chapter explores the integration of Ubuntu philosophy into the gig economy to address precarity and vulnerability. Ubuntu's principles of interconnectedness, empathy and shared well-being offer a transformative framework for reshaping the gig economy, ensuring the dignity and sustained livelihood of gig workers. Through illustrative and imaginative practice, this chapter theorises a model that we term an “Ubuntu Gig-Hub” constituted by cooperative gig platforms, worker guilds, skill exchange networks, mutual aid funds and community-driven review systems. By embracing Ubuntu-inspired model and practices, for example, in the domestic gig work sector, the chapter offers an example of how the gig economy can evolve into a more inclusive and humanistic space, redefining work dynamics and fostering resilient communities.