Digital Economy: Income diversification for refugees in Kakuma

In a settlement where formal employment opportunities are scarce and humanitarian assistance continues to shrink, online gig work is emerging as an alternative pathway for income and dignity. 

According to research conducted by WUSC titled Market assessment of digital employment opportunities for refugee youth, 2025, young people are one of the groups most disproportionately affected by displacement, with those between the ages of 18 and 24 accounting for 13% of the global refugee population.

This translates to the young people facing significant challenges in gaining access to employment opportunities, freedom of movement, legal constraints, and competition for scarce opportunities with the host country's youth. With this, the digital economy has emerged as a promising job creation tool.

The opportunities of the digital economy.

Between 2018 and 2019, Kenya’s ICT sector grew by about 10% (Kenya Country Commercial Guide, International Trade Administration), and the estimated number of online workers is over 36,500 in the country (Towards a digital workforce: Understanding the building blocks of Kenya’s Gig Economy, 2019).

With the growing youth population in Kenya, the need to invest and tap into the digital economy is prudent now more than ever to curb the high unemployment rates in the country.

Kakuma Refugee Camp and Kalobeyei settlement are no different from the rest of the country.  As of late 2025, the number of refugees is close to 300,000 – quite a lot of people. Close to half of this number comprises the youth. The youth who solely rely on formal employment from humanitarian organizations, either international, national, or local.

The competition for securing employment is not limited only to the refugee community because often, the host community youth are also competing for these limited resources. Ultimately, this creates an employment gap, leaving more youths unemployed than employed.

Over the years, the online economy has been rising in Kakuma and Kalobeyei, with more youths opting to transition to online work. Refugee-led organizations and other humanitarian organizations in the region provide digital skills training to the youth.

This has greatly contributed to the youth gaining skills to join the digital economy in different fields, such as transcriptions, translation, data entry, and data labeling for basic skilled-youth, digital marketing, virtual assistant, content creation, and videography and editing for intermediary-skilled youth, and graphic design, software programming, data science, and technical trainers for advanced-skilled youth.

Refugees utilize a variety of online platforms to access remote work, often supported by organizations and specialized initiatives to overcome barriers related to work permits, identification, and payment. 

Key platforms include upwork,  Humans in the loop,  and Digital lions, which are frequently used. 

Barriers to accessing digital work

Despite the presence and access to these online platforms, refugees still face significant barriers to accessing online work. These barriers include limited access to infrastructure, lack of legal recognition, financial exclusion, and inadequate digital skills.

The key barriers, however, are a lack of legal recognition and financial exclusion.

Most refugee youth still do not have their identification cards. And for one to work online, the only recognized document is the identification card. This makes it extremely difficult for youths with skills to be able to register in any of these online platforms and get employment.

Closely tied to this is the financial exclusion. In online platforms, the most commonly used method of payment is M-Pesa.

Although the youths might have an identification card, some are unable to register for sim cards. Without the sim cards, they cannot access the M-Pesa services.

Even though the refugee youth are shifting to the digital economy for self-reliance and sustainability, these challenges make it significantly hard for the youth to fully integrate and benefit from the opportunities.

Final thoughts

During a 2-day training session led by the Kenya Union of Gig Workers (KUGWO), hosted at RAI Campus, it was clear that with intervention and inclusion, we can solve these challenges.

The training brought together more than 20 youths involved in the digital economy, intending to understand the barriers to accessing online work and to create a platform for refugee online workers to voice their challenges and be involved in the solution-making process.

To address these barriers:

1. Encourage freelancing platforms to accept UNHCR refugee identification documents to facilitate account opening and registration of SIM cards for payment.

2. Engage in advocacy to ease work permit restrictions and update national regulations to include digital platform work.

3. Create mentorship programs and networking platforms that connect refugees with employers and industry professionals.

While digital work is seen as the bridge to create more employment for not just refugee youths but also youths in Kenya, it is paramount to acknowledge the barriers that hinder youth access. 

In doing so, the rise of the digital economy will not just be a hoax, but a sustainable alternative employment opportunity that will help eradicate unemployment in the camps and the country.