KEY POINTS
- New app connects Kenyan hair braiders with online clients.
- App addresses gender divide in Kenya’s digital economy.
- Gig economy policy gaps remain, though benefits encourage growth.
In Nairobi’s busy Kenyatta Market, Kenyan hair braider Jemima Atieno has been perfecting her art for more than 20 years. However, her business suffered as the epidemic caused her consumers to switch to the internet.
“I don’t know how to get on social media,” Atieno told Reuters, illustrating the digital divide that has caused many women, including herself, to fall behind as Kenyan men prosper in the online gig economy.
When she came into “Braiding Nairobi,” an app that lets users schedule in-home braiding services, her luck started to turn around.
The 25-year-old founder, Natachi Onwuamaegbu, released the app in May with the goal of leveling the playing field by allowing braiders to access a larger clientele without requiring social media know-how.
Bridging Kenya’s digital gender gap
After interviewing Kenyatta Market braiders for a storytelling project, Onwuamaegbu was motivated and saw that their companies flourished after she shared their experiences online.
She saw the opportunity and made the decision to develop an app that would streamline client access without necessitating a high level of digital proficiency. “In this manner, braiders can expand their clientele without having to be adept at Instagram or other social media,” she said.
According to a 2023 International Labour Organization assessment, Kenyan women are less digitally literate and have less dependable internet access than men.
Apps like “Braiding Nairobi” are essential in closing the gender gap in Kenya, where women make up only 28 percent of gig workers and many lack regular access to data or digital skills. She makes use of Onwuamaegbu’s app to make sure these women don’t lag any more in the changing digital economy.
Expanding access amid regulatory challenges
Nearly 100 braiders and 180 customers have signed up for “Braiding Nairobi” since its inception, and as the app grows, more are on the waiting. In order to ease braiders into the platform’s operations and resolve connectivity concerns, Onwuamaegbu occasionally phones braiders personally to confirm orders.
Experts warn that despite the app’s popularity, Kenya’s gig economy is devoid of crucial regulations. According to scholar Kutoma Wakunuma, “policy to safeguard gig workers is still slow in development.”
However, braiders like Esther Mulandi, who calls the app “convenient” and says it’s already assisting her business in expanding, assert that the advantages outweigh any possible drawbacks.
Platforms like “Braiding Nairobi” might help bridge the gender gap as Kenya’s digital economy develops, attracting more women to the expanding gig economy and providing a lifeline to established companies such as hair braiding.
