Can you get credit or insurance as a gig worker in South Africa?
You’re a gig worker. You lease a car, and you drive for Bolt. You’re earning your own money, and you’re managing to save. You want to know how to manage your finances as a gig worker, and how to get the best returns from your job as a gig worker. Who is going to help you? Who is going to take you, and your money, seriously?
Enter Imalipay, an innovative online one stop financial services platform that provides tailored products to gig workers, including savings, credit, and insurance. Imalipay is available in three countries – South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya – and caters specifically for workers in the ride economy space – both two and four-wheeled drivers.
Despite the rapid growth of the gig economy in South Africa, and Africa largely, operators are still more frequently treated as contractors and not as employees, meaning they have limited access to credit and other financial services, such as gig worker insurance. Imalipay links workers to partner companies, so when it comes to accident cover and income protection loss insurance, gig workers can qualify for each product based upon their transactional behaviour.
Insurance for the gig economy
The gig economy platforms in South Africa and elsewhere are themselves primarily responsible for monitoring this. Vendors that deal with mobile phones, petrol, spare parts and other items gig workers need to operate, make up the rest of the partnerships. This means that if a driver runs out of fuel, or quickly needs a spare part, in order to operate, a system is in place to create this possibility.
Ultimately, the aim of Imalipay is to bridge the existing financial inclusion gap for the gig economy, which is expected to have 80 million gig workers online in Africa by 2030. With an increasing number of individuals looking for work outside traditional employment, there is an increasing need to provide financial services that take into consideration the inconsistent and volatile nature of their income and work, including insurance for gig workers. says Imalipay co-founder Sanmi Akinmusire from Nigeria.
This also takes into account salaries and gig workers, and what gig workers should be earning.