Source: NOWPayments

Over the last decade, freelancing has become very popular especially among millennials and Gen Zs. Coupled with the effect of covid-19 on the gig economy, many people now fancy the idea of working remotely (myself inclusive). Globally, freelancing is admired but one continent that has shown great interest in freelancing is Africa.

According to a study conducted by Payoneer in 2022, Africa holds 10.1% of the world’s freelancers with potential to keep growing. This might not be the highest percentage as compared to other continents but it signifies Africa’s growth in the gig economy. With the realization that freelancing is an opportunity to work with international clients and get paid in foreign currencies, Africans are getting more interested. One of the reasons for the high interest to work with international clients and get paid in foreign currencies like Dollar, Pound, Euro, etc can be attributed to the decline in the value of national currencies of African countries.

Nigeria’s Naira, for instance, has seen a huge decline in value this year alone and there’s a high probability of further decline. As at the time of writing, the Dollar to Naira parallel market exchange rate is between $950 to $1000 per dollar. It goes to say that earning in foreign currencies as an African is one of the most viable options.

To feed the growing interest of freelancers globally, there are hundreds of gateway payment platforms to help clients easily send payment to freelancers anywhere in the world for services offered. These payment platforms which are supposed to ease cross-border payments for freelancers globally are doing the opposite for African freelancers. Over the years, there have been increasing complaints about these payment platforms, with PayPal taking the lead. This article discusses the effect of these on African freelancers as the region has seen the highest number of complaints.

P.S: This article is not a means to tarnish the names of the mentioned payment networks!

Some of these complaints are:

>>> Payments being delayed for a week or more before freelancers receive them. I’ve been a victim of this.

>>> Payments being withheld for unknown reasons.

>>> Gateway payment platforms are restricted in some African countries, hence, residents of the blacklisted countries can’t make use of them. For instance, Nigerians and Ghanians can’t efficiently use PayPal.

>>> Large payment fees collected by these platforms.

>>> Difficulty in creating accounts with these payment platforms.

In my bid to get insights from other freelancers on this matter, I created a survey using Google form and sent to some known freelancers and I also shared on my social media pages (LinkedIn and Twitter). This is the result of the survey.

Stats:

● Freelancers who took the survey offered ranges of services like design, writing, development, etc.

● All freelancers who took the survey have worked with international clients.

● All respondents affirmed that they have received payments from international clients through gateway payment platforms, with PayPal taking the lead as over 70% of them have received payments via PayPal.

● 50% of the respondents confirmed that they have had issues with the above listed payment platforms before. Some of the issues reported by respondents are as shown in the image below:

● 70% reported that these challenges led them on a hunt for better payment options.

● 80% confirmed that they have received payments in crypto. USDT and ETH led the list of cryptocurrencies these freelancers have received payments in.

● 80% of those who have received payments in crypto said they consider it a better payment option when compared to these gateway payment platforms.

● Some of the reasons why most consider crypto a better option are listed below (as extracted from my survey):

● The remaining 20% who haven’t received payments in crypto before said they’d consider it in the near future.

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Studying the responses from this survey reminded me of a sentence I came across on LinkedIn from a post by Osueke Henry which is “crypto is being adopted where crypto is needed most.”

Indeed cryptocurrency was made for Africans, hence, the little or no surprise when I see African countries like Nigeria ranking top among list of countries with the highest crypto adoption.

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Now, your turn.

Have you had issues with gateway payment platforms when trying to receive money for services rendered? If yes, do you mind describing?

Also, if you haven’t used cryptocurrency to receive payment before now, would you consider it in the nearest future?

Leave your answers in the comment section below. Let’s discuss.