CAIRO, Apr 24 (AFP): Young men on bikes and scooters zip through Cairo, Egypt's sprawling megalopolis, dodging cars to deliver more than a million orders each day, with little physical or legal protection.
Egypt's digital gig economy is growing, as economic pressures push more of its key demographic-educated, urban youth-into the work-on-demand model.
Engineer Mohamed Sherif, 37, joined online food ordering company Talabat as a bicycle courier in Alexandria three months ago because he couldn't find a job.
"They bleed you dry left and right, but there's nothing else to do," he told AFP.
In early April, Talabat couriers called a two-day strike to demand higher wages, with only a fraction of the 12,000 workforce joining.
The work stoppage reflected, however, the state of Egypt's sizeable, app-based gig economy.
Inflation has climbed to a three-year high of 12.1 per cent while the Egyptian pound plunged to 18 per cent of its value.
The mounting economic hardships come as global commodity prices have soared following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
A courier who declined to be named said commissions have been stagnant since 2020 at 9-18 Egyptian pounds (50 cents and $1).
"You can work a nine or 10-hour shift, and just not get enough orders," Sherif told AFP.
After paying for gas, oil and other expenses, "you could end up only making 30 or 40 pounds that day".
In Egypt, where 60 per cent of the 103-million-strong population are under 30 and 14.5 per cent of university graduates are unemployed, digital labour platforms have attracted 100,000-200,000 workers.
Uber alone employed 90,000 drivers in 2019, all without contracts, insurance or social security.
Fairwork, a project by the University of Oxford, worked with the American University in Cairo to rate the working conditions of seven of Egypt's largest digital labour platforms.
Uber, Talabat and grocery app Mongez scored one out of 10, while ridesharing startup Swvl-which made headlines for its $1.5 billion Nasdaq debut earlier this year-scored just three out of 10.
Omar Ramadan, whose home maintenance and cleaning services startup FilKhedma rated highest at five out of 10, said working conditions are seldom discussed in the tech ecosystem.
