Google has launched taskmate in Kenya, a crowdsourcing application that allows people to use smartphones to control tasks and receive payments, taking advantage of the growing gig economy. The tech giant released a beta version after a year-long experiment in the East African country and is preparing to roll it out to other countries on the continent. The app is also available in India, where it is also in a pilot phase.
TaskMate users can use Google-approved business photography or translation to publish to the platform globally.
TaskMate joins a growing list of Google apps and services that offer people pay for the services they perform. It includes a rewards app that lets people get paid to take surveys and local service ads that link businesses, for a price, with nearby customers.
“Today we are launching TaskMate and it is the first time we have opened it in Africa and globally,” said TaskMate Product Manager Mike Knapp.
The pilot started in Kenya at the end of last year and users were able to carry out different tasks, including taking photos of plants for a research project carried out by Penn State University, for example.
“We went into a pilot phase where 1.000 people used the app and gave very positive feedback. And now we have moved into the beta phase. And we're really experimenting on a higher level," Knapp said.
"We're looking for companies and startups to experiment with us on the platform, to see how this can help them solve the complex problems they're working on," he said.
Companies that post tasks on the platform have the option to make them available to a select group of people or they can invite specific people to complete them. TaskMate users in Kenya withdraw money earned through mobile money payment platform M-Pesa, managed by Safaricom, the largest telecommunications company in the East African region.
“This is a crowdsourcing platform that simplifies the distribution and achievement of tasks for companies and organizations. It is also an app that provides opportunities for Kenyans, either to build a community or to earn additional income. This is Google's commitment to building for and with Africa on its digital transformation journey," he said.
The launch came as Google announced that it had disbursed $10 million in loans to help small businesses in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa achieve economic recovery from the COVID pandemic. Google is disbursing the loans through Kiva, a San Francisco-based nonprofit lending organization. The funding is part of the $XNUMX billion it will invest in Africa.
Google's investment will include a submarine cable, which will run through South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria and Saint Helena, connecting Africa and Europe. It will deliver faster internet and create around 1,7 million jobs in Nigeria and South Africa by 2025 as the digital economy grows.
It is expected that Africa's digital economy grows as the transformation continues, offering new opportunities as more people come online. In sub-Saharan Africa, about 303 million, 28 percent of the population, are currently connected to the mobile Internet, according to the report from GSMA Mobile Economy 2021. This number is expected to grow to around 40% by 2025, offering a larger market for internet-based businesses and services like TaskMate that are taking advantage of internet connectivity and the young population of Africans.
