Lynk, a young start-up transforming the informal sector in Kenya

80 %

of the working population is employed in the informal sector in Kenya

1 000

active workers from the Lynk platform

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In Kenya, as in the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa, the informal sector is omnipresent and very dynamic. 80% of the working population is employed in the informal sector.

THE CONTEXT

Seeing this potential of non-referenced jobs is what gave the start-up Lynk the idea of making this pool of professionals, craftsmen or specialists available to clients looking for high-quality services. The goal is to match supply and demand to help these skilled workers develop their business.

“A major challenge for me was to gain my clients’ trust and be paid.” Julius Okoth, a carpenter and member of the Lynk platform.

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LYNK IS TRANSFORMING THE INFORMAL SECTOR IN KENYA

A report from Kenya, where the Lynk platform puts skilled workers from the informal sector in touch with individuals or companies seeking qualified services.

Image gallery

Julius Okoth, un charpentier professionnel, Lynk ©Backdrop

Kibera, Travailleurs informels ©Backdrop

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DEVELOPING THE INFORMAL SECTOR’S ENTREPRENEURIAL POTENTIAL

Kenya’s economy is undoubtedly one of the fastest-growing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, its informal sector still accounts for 45% of its total economic activity and over 80% of the working population is still mainly involved in the informal economy.

By leveraging technology, a new wave of entrepreneurs is deploying new business models that respond to the challenges faced by these informal workers with the objective of restoring their real status in the economy.

The young start-up Lynk Job Limited was launched in 2016. It has developed an online services platform that connects skilled workers from the informal sector with individuals or companies. The principle is simple: individuals or businesses that want to have work done or need a service can use the platform to find the right professional for the task. Each proposed professional, whose skills have been previously verified, then enters into contact with the client. Today, Lynk has 1,000 active professionals. And already 3,000 customers have used its services.

BANKING ON THE QUALITY OF ITS WORKERS

Lynk has opted to present skilled and referenced workers on its employment platform on which each user can rate the service provided. There are currently 72 different categories.

On the website, the worker is selected from among those candidates able to perform the requested task. The choice is made by consulting the profile and also depending on the price (set by the worker himself) and his experience. Lynk adds a commission to the price for its services. At the end of the mission, the worker is rated on a scale of 5 stars by his clients.

To review its workers, Lynk organises tests several times a week, to test their skills and talents. About 40% of candidates are selected. Around 1,000 candidates have been active on the platform since the website was launched. Over 17,000 jobs have been performed for over 3,000 clients, who continue to call on the Lynk workers.

RESTORING EMPLOYERS’ CONFIDENCE

The risk with the informal sector is that any job can be entrusted to any individual, at any price, even if they do not have the required skillset.

However, there is a real demand to find craftsmen whose skills come recommended. Employers, searching for trustworthy individuals, tend to rely on the recommendations from their family and friends, who do their best to guarantee the artisan’s skills, a competitive price and, most importantly, that the job will be completed.

The craftsman, for his part, is sometimes faced with difficult employers who do not pay him, even when the job is successfully completed. Today, a professional who wants to offer his services no longer needs to write his mobile phone number on the wall of a building, or rely on word of mouth… A qualified carpenter or plumber can now offer his services via the Lynk job platform.

Thanks to new technology, he can move out of the informal sector.

Julius Okoth, a carpenter by profession : “A major challenge for me was to gain my clients’ trust and be paid. Sometimes I used to do a job and when I delivered the final product to the client, they rejected it and refused to pay me. When I tried to ask for a deposit, they also refused as they didn’t trust me and used to ask: ‘Why should I believe you? I don’t know where you work.’”

Julius ended up rapidly developing his activity. He believes that it was not word of mouth which triggered this change. It was Lynk. He has conducted some 90 missions thanks to the platform.

Lynk provides a real solution to guarantee fair wages, job security and a safe working environment. The client can be reassured via the application. He can compare, book, pay, and then rate the professional.

A relationship of trust is created and strengthened over time.

LYNK IS FINANCED AND SUPPORTED BY THE NOVASTAR EAST AFRICA FUND

in which PROPARCO has been invested in (US$5.5m) since 2017.

Novastar East Africa Fund is an impact fund that supports entrepreneurs in the region who are developing basic services for the poorest populations in the education, health, food and water sectors.

Novastar East Africa Fund is a pioneering impact investor in Africa based in Kenya. This initiative came about through the meeting between three partners, Steve Beck, Andrew Carruthers and Kim Tan, who decided to pool their skills to advance social entrepreneurship in East Africa.

The Novastar East Africa Fund aims to identify and support a new generation of innovative entrepreneurs whose objective is to make essential goods and services accessible in East Africa (Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda). It meets the needs of start-ups by providing minority equity investments, right from the early stages of development. The investment is made in several stages, making it possible to gradually support the development of companies. Furthermore, the Novastar team advises companies at the various stages of their development through being present in their governance bodies and participating in their main strategic decision-making.

This project will ultimately improve access to essential goods and services for two million people living on less than US$2 a day by financing 20 companies. The priority targets for goods and services will be education, healthcare, energy, food security, water and sanitation. More broadly, it will contribute to developing social and innovative entrepreneurship in East Africa.

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