When you stare at a number like KES 100 billion, it is easy to forget that behind it are real people, real livelihoods, and real decisions made every single day. That is the scale of Kenya’s gig economy today — and as I have written before, it is no longer a side hustle. It is becoming a permanent, structural feature of how we work and earn in Kenya. 

At last week’s Bolt Kenya & Ipsos Gig Economy Report launch, we unpacked the data in detail and then sat down for a live panel to explore what it all means in practice. Immediately after the main speeches and discussion panel wrapped we pulled aside the key protagonists for short, focused interviews while the energy and ideas were still fresh. We turned those reflections into a mini‑documentary that, in many ways, completes the story: it adds the human and strategic nuance around the numbers.

If the report gave us the data, and the panel gave us the debate, this short film gives us the “what this really means” layer.

From side hustle to structural pillar

In the documentary, I open with a simple story: the Bolt driver who brought me to the launch event was a university student using his free mornings to earn an income when he does not have class. He is not unique. He is one face in a fast‑growing labour force that is expected to grow from roughly 150,000 to 300,000 participants by 2028, just within the gig segment covered by Bolt.

The report estimates that this space — anchored by ride hailing but encompassing a broader universe of digital platform work — is already worth about 100 billion Kenyan shillings, or close to a billion dollars. Within that, ride hailing is second only to e‑commerce in terms of market size. As Soyinka Witness from Ipsos notes in the mini-documentary, it is rare for any sector in Kenya to reach a billion dollars in value; gig work has crossed that threshold in a relatively short time.

This is not a fringe activity anymore. It is a serious economic vertical competing with long‑established industries.

Primary incomes and permanent choices

One of the most important data points in the documentary is the comparison across Africa. As Kenneth Anye from Bolt explains, 53% of gig workers in Kenya say this is their primary source of income, compared to 25% in Nigeria and 30% in South Africa. That is a dramatic signal of how deeply integrated gig work has become in Kenya’s local labour market.

Dimmy Kanyankole, who leads Bolt’s East African operations, puts it in practical terms: there are now people who wake up every morning and “go to work” as ride‑hailing drivers, full‑time. Some are even graduating from university with a clear plan to get a vehicle — by any viable means — so they can plug into the gig economy as their next step. Others, like the student who drove me that morning, start earlier and use it as income while they study.

Mbugua Njihia frames it well in the documentary: the gig economy “started as a place of optionality”, but it is now a permanent feature. Most people he knows have some kind of side gig, whether it is weekend work, e‑commerce, or services delivered through digital platforms. Because we recorded these thoughts on the day of the launch, they feel less like abstract theory and more like real‑time observation of where Kenya’s labour market is heading.

Scale, trust and the policy challenge

Two themes consistently surface in the interviews: the need for smarter policy and the importance of trust.

Kenneth argues that a sector of this size and impact cannot operate in a policy vacuum. It needs clear, enabling frameworks built through genuine public‑private partnerships. The goal, as he puts it, is to ensure that all the benefits the gig economy creates can be realized, while minimising negative externalities — without suffocating innovation in the process.

Mbugua adds an important nuance from a builder’s perspective: many policymakers do not fully appreciate the complexity of creating platforms that mediate trust at scale. In a gig context, you are getting a service from someone you do not know, yet you are willing to share your location, your payments and often your time. The platform is the trust layer that makes this possible. Policy interventions that do not understand this reality risk undermining the very infrastructure that holds the ecosystem together.

Because these reflections were captured immediately after the launch event, they come across as a natural continuation of the conversation that began on stage and spilled over into the cameras.

Inclusion, women and asset ownership

Another powerful thread in the mini-documentary is inclusion — particularly around gender and access to assets.

Dimmy talks about Bolt’s efforts to make the platform more welcoming and viable for women drivers. Bolt was the first to launch a dedicated female category that connects female passengers with female drivers, allowing women to choose journeys that feel safer or more comfortable, especially at certain hours. That category, combined with broader outreach, has already moved the needle from 0% female drivers to around 4% within four years, with a target of 8–10% by 2028.

He also highlights the company’s vehicle financing programme, which has helped over 4,000 drivers in Nairobi access and own vehicles so they can participate more sustainably in ride hailing. This is not just about getting onto the platform; it is about building assets and a pathway to long‑term economic mobility.

Soyinka brings this back to the bigger picture: around 1.5 million unique individuals are estimated to be participating in Kenya’s broader gig economy, making it a significant share of the national labour force. When you think of that number alongside the financing and inclusion initiatives, you start to see the contours of a parallel labour market — one shaped as much by platforms and smartphones as by traditional employers.

Why this mini‑documentary matters

For me, this mini‑documentary is the natural third chapter in a story that started with the Bolt Kenya & Ipsos report and continued through the live panel discussion.

• The report gives us the hard numbers and trends.
• The panel unpacks those numbers with robust debate and multiple perspectives.
• This documentary filters the core implications into a short, accessible format that anyone can watch and immediately understand what is at stake.

It is about more than ride hailing. It is about how a billion‑dollar, 1.5 million‑person ecosystem of gig work is reshaping youth employment, financial inclusion, gender participation and policy conversations in Kenya.

If you are a policymaker, investor, platform operator, or simply someone trying to understand where the future of work is going in this part of the world, I think you will find the reflections in this documentary useful.

You can watch the Bolt Kenya & Ipsos Gig Economy Report mini‑documentary here on YouTube: