THE GLOBAL REMOTE WORK BOOM THAT LEFT SWAZI YOUTH BEHIND
The global remote work revolution is booming. The gig economy – freelancing, online contract work, and remote services – is now valued at over R10 trillion (US$582 billion) in 2025, and is projected to more than triple by 2034. According to the World Bank, online gig work now accounts for up to 12% of the global labour force.
This includes software development and graphic design, as well as virtual assistance, content writing, customer support, and data labelling for artificial intelligence. A borderless marketplace now exists where a talented youth in Africa can earn a living with nothing more than a computer and an internet connection.
But a fundamental prerequisite underpins this promise – reliable, affordable internet access. Without it, even the most talented youth remain on the sidelines. What our African peers are doing in Kenya has spent years investing in competitive telecom markets. A gigabyte of mobile data costs on average just R10 (about US$0.59) there, among the lowest in Africa.
This affordable connectivity, coupled with initiatives like the government's Ajira Digital programme to train online freelancers, has enabled tens of thousands of Kenyan youth to find online gigs. Kenya has seen a staggering 216% growth in online freelancers over the past five years and now employs over 1.2 million gig workers.
In Nigeria, the story is similar. A competitive internet service market has driven costs down dramatically – 1GB of mobile data averages around R7 (about US$0.39), among the cheapest in West Africa. Young Nigerians are selling their skills on global platforms: coding for startups in Europe, designing logos for clients in Asia, providing virtual administrative support to companies in America.
In the Philippines, an estimated 1.5 million people now work as online freelancers for international clients. These countries show that when internet access is affordable, young people can transform connectivity into income. Telecoms monopoly vs Jobs In eSwatini, the telecom sector has long been dominated by a duopoly: MTN and the state-owned operator. With little competition to drive prices down, historyically eSwatini has became notorious for prohibitive data costs.
At the end of 2019, the average price of 1GB of data was R320 (US$21.39 at the time) – the highest on the continent. Even after price cuts in 2020, the average fell only to about R150 per GB – still exorbitant relative to regional peers and local incomes. "eSwatini has high broadband costs compared with other countries in the region, which hampers the government's aspiration to build a digital economy," admitted ICT minister Manqoba Khumalo in 2020.
MTN still retains about 86% of the market, meaning effective control of the internet remains in very few hands. The human cost is stark. Youth unemployment in eSwatini stands at 58.2%. Each year, 25,000 young job-seekers enter the labour market, but only about 1,000 new jobs are created. In other countries, many such youth would hop online to find gigs globally – using the internet as a pressure valve for domestic job scarcity.
In eSwatini, the high cost and sluggish speed of connections make consistent online work a luxury few can afford. The consequences The connectivity gap has measurable effects. First, lost income: trillions of Rands circulate annually in the online gig economy, and eSwatini's youth are shut out. Second, brain drain: according to Afrobarometer surveys, jobs and economic opportunity top the list of reasons young Emaswati consider emigrating.
The same internet that allows a Kenyan to work for a UK firm from Nairobi compels a Swazi youth to physically relocate because they cannot work online from home. Third, digital marginalisation: as more services, education, and governance move online, those without access fall further behind. The choice ahead The global remote work train is leaving the station.
Young people in Kenya, Nigeria, the Philippines and beyond are on board, earning foreign income from their hometowns. Many in eSwatini are still standing on the platform – not by choice, but by circumstance – waiting for a ticket to the digital future.