The creator economy has emerged as a significant force in the digital space, transforming the way people create, share, and monetize their content online.

Leveraging the power of social media, e-commerce, and other digital platforms like Selar to create and distribute their content to a global audience.

The objective of this report is to evaluate the impact of the creator economy in Africa and how digital creators are growing to become employers of labour.

Specifically, we aimed to investigate the current state of the creator economy in Africa, the challenges and opportunities for digital creators, the role of technology and social media in facilitating the growth of the creator economy, and the impact of digital creators on job creation and economic development in the continent.

Let’s look at some key findings we discovered during our research.

Key Findings

With the rise of digital platforms, a new kind of economy has emerged, where people can create and sell their products and services online.

The research study found that 3 in 5 respondents sell digital products such as e-books, courses, and training programs. This is not surprising given the audience a platform like Selar attracts.

The study identified four main groups of creators: Bloggers, Youtubers, Social Media Influencers (SMI), and Digital Product Creators (DPC).

The study also found that creators are hiring, and they are hiring fast. Over 1 in 4 digital creators currently have people working with them. This goes as high as around 1 in 3 for Bloggers and Youtubers, with Youtubers having the highest percentage of hired staff (36%). This shows that the Creator Economy is creating jobs and opportunities for people who want to work in this field.

Digital Creator	Hired staff (%)
Youtubers	36
Bloggers	35
Social Media Influencers	31
Digital Products Creators	27

Current Trends in the Creator Economy and its Impact on Employment

The creator economy is a rapidly evolving industry with a diverse range of platforms, monetization strategies, collaborations, and professionalization trends.

The industry’s impact on employment is significant, with creators increasingly becoming entrepreneurs and employers of labour. 

Some key trends that emerged in the creator economy are;

• The rise of more platforms and tools to support digital creators in various ways, from simplifying the distribution of content to providing monetization opportunities. One of such platforms is Selar.

• Influencer marketing is on the rise due to its ability to reach a specific target audience and generate a higher return on investment (ROI) for businesses than traditional advertising methods.
• NFTs and cryptocurrency are also having a significant impact on the creator economy. NFTs provide creators with a way to monetize digital content such as artwork, music, and videos. Cryptocurrency, on the other hand, provides creators with a way to receive payments directly from their audience without the need for intermediaries such as banks or payment processors.

The Creator Economy’s Impact on Employment in Africa

The creator economy has revolutionized work in Africa and has given creators the opportunity to create jobs for themselves, leveraging the internet, their skills, and social media.

Some of the impact of the creator economy on employment in Africa includes;

Changes in job opportunities and job types

The creator economy has provided a new avenue for individuals to monetize their skills and passions, and has led to the rise of a new type of worker – the creator. Africa, with its vast population and growing youth demographic, has not been left behind in this trend.

The Creator Economy has the potential to provide new opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship, particularly for young people who face high rates of unemployment across the continent.

Also, the Creator Economy has created new job opportunities in supporting industries, such as digital marketing, e-commerce, and content creation.

These industries are experiencing rapid growth as creators seek to maximize their online presence and monetize their content.

As a result, there is a growing demand for skilled workers in these industries, particularly in areas such as graphic design, video editing, and social media management.

This has the potential to create a ripple effect of job creation and economic growth in Africa.

Changes in skills and qualifications needed for creator economy jobs

Traditionally, employment opportunities in Africa have been dominated by jobs that require formal education and specific qualifications.

However, the Creator Economy is changing the job landscape by creating opportunities for individuals with specialized skills in areas like graphics design, social media management, digital marketing, video editing and production, and customer support.

This means that there is a growing need for individuals with these specialized skills, rather than traditional education and academic qualifications.

For example, a freelancer with strong graphics design skills may be hired by a creator to design a logo or create visually appealing content, without necessarily having a formal degree in graphic design.

Creator economy potential long-term effects on traditional employment and job security

The rise of the creator economy has been one of the most significant and transformative trends of the digital age.

It’s been established that with the advent of social media and other online platforms, it has become increasingly easy for individuals to create, distribute, and monetize their own content, products, and services.

This has opened up new opportunities for people to make a living doing what they love and has given rise to a new class of entrepreneurs, influencers, and content creators.

However, while the creator economy has certainly created many new opportunities, it has also raised important questions about the long-term effects on traditional employment and job security.

As more and more people turn to the creator economy as a source of income, what will be the impact on traditional jobs and industries?

One potential long-term effect of the creator economy is the displacement of traditional jobs and industries.

As more people turn to the creator economy as a source of income, there is a risk that traditional jobs in industries like media, marketing, and entertainment will become obsolete.

This could lead to significant job losses in these sectors, and could also have a ripple effect on other industries that rely on these sectors for business.

Nonetheless, Selar aims to be a key part of the creator economy discussion by providing easier opportunities for monetization and publishing more data-supported findings.

Learn more about the African creator economy and how it’s impacting the future of work by downloading the research report.