Online work worldwide

The force

Work no longer has to be done where the employer is. Writing, design, data entry, translation, customer support and coding can be done from anywhere with a phone or laptop and a connection.

A World Bank study in September 2023 estimated that up to 435 million people do online gig work, up to 12% of the world's workforce. On one large platform, job posts in sub-Saharan Africa grew 130% from 2016 to 2020, against 14% in North America (World Bank).

Inside the country

Somalia has the people this kind of work needs and too few local jobs for them.

• About 500,000 young Somalis enter the job market each year, against about 80,000 new jobs (MENA Startup Digest).
• Youth unemployment (ages 15 to 24) was 37.4% in the 2019 labour survey (NBS Labour Force Survey).
• Somalia has more than 126 universities and colleges, and thousands graduate each year (Dawan).
• LinkedIn has 420,000 Somali members, up 23.5% in a year, the fastest-growing platform in the country (DataReportal).
• Mobile data costs about $0.40 per gigabyte, cheaper than Kenya's $0.82 (Broadband.co.uk, Mobile Data Price League 2026).

Who rode it fast

Shaqodoon sent job alerts by SMS on short code 777 in Somalia and Somaliland. About 6,000 people found work within three months of its December 2013 launch (Red Herring).

Ties abroad

About 2 million Somalis live abroad, in the UK, US, Canada, the Nordic countries and the Gulf (UN News). Somali-owned firms there can hire Somalis at home, and many graduates speak English or Arabic.

What holds it back

Online work can be unstable and low-paid, and the World Bank study warns of weak protections for workers (World Bank). Being paid from abroad also depends on payment links, which are still growing.

What it means for young Somalis

A graduate in Garowe or Baidoa can earn from a client in Dubai or London without leaving home. Paid work that keeps young people in the country is the kind of money that builds it.