According to global startup data, only around 10% of new ventures succeed. The main reason isn’t always money; it’s people. Teams are frequently stretched too thin, hiring is more often that not, rushed, and under-qualified talent is forced into critical roles. Across Africa, this challenge is even more pronounced. Despite unemployment remaining high, a growing generation of professionals are rejecting traditional corporate careers in favour of freelancing, contracting, project-based work, or entrepreneurship.
The question is no longer whether the alternative to fill-time roles is viable, but more about how to make it sustainable.
The solo freelancer ceiling
Working as a solo freelancer offers flexibility and autonomy, but it also comes with limits. Individually, freelancers often struggle to win larger international projects, manage complex deliverables, or convince larger business clients of reliability. They face lumpy income and high admin overheads, alongside loneliness, a lack of collaboration, and limited to no access to benefits. Many end up undercharging to compete with lower-cost peers in other markets, resulting in a race-to-bottom and significant time spent chasing, closing, and trying to retain deals as opposed to creating value through work.
Micro-agencies as the unlock
Across the continent, and globally, a new model is gaining ground: the micro-agency. These are small pods of two to ten independents, more often than not orchestrated by 2 or three very senior independents, who collaborate across design, development, strategy, marketing, or finance. By forming squads, they punch above their weight and leverage each other’s skillsets to significantly increase value created, reduce risk, and partake in a much more enjoyable work experience all-round.
This modular, pod-based structure allows flexible scaling as and when demands fluctuate, and is increasingly becoming the norm for forward-thinking startup and scale ups. Similar to the rise of the forward deployed engineer, forward deployed pods and flexible teams can be leveraged to get up and running without the unnecessary risk, slowly fazing certain skillsets towards full-time employment as and when needed.
This collaborative model increases pricing power, reduces risk for clients, and distributes workloads more evenly. It also allows independents to specialise in their craft while relying on teammates for complementary skills.
Why collaboration and subcontracting matters
Subcontracting and collaboration is the glue that makes this model work. Startups and agencies that win larger projects, or simply have work to be done, can then subcontract parts to micro-agencies or senior fractional specialists. Done right, subcontracting is not exploitation in the slightest, but rather leverage, an exercise in derisking and operational streamlining. It allows independents to capture opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach. And when the cross-border payments and compliance layers are streamlined across all resources, everyone wins.
Across Africa, cross-border subcontracting corridors are already emerging. Creative collectives are partnering with agencies in Europe. Developers are teaming up with US startups. Finance professionals from South Africa are working with scale-ups on fractional CFO mandates. These subcontracting and collaborate workflows are creating a new supply chain built on skills, not on physical goods.
Some argue that this as a form of digital neo-colonialism, where platforms mirror historical resource extraction. However, many small agency founders, fractional specialists and freelancers are rewriting that narrative. By forming “pop-up agencies” of complementary specialists they deliver collaborative services, price accordingly, and offer both local and International clients integrated value, not just cost savings. This is not arbitrage; it is collaboration, credibility, and importantly, shared revenue. The model empowers micro-agencies and freelancers to specialise, earn, grow, and flex team sizes flexibly without needing formal degrees or the risk of large payrolls that so many traditional agencies face
The Gen Z factor
For Africa’s Gen Z, freelancing is not a fallback, it’s a deliberate choice and collective unlock. Studies show more than half of Gen Z professionals globally are freelancing in some capacity. Across Africa, many are choosing project-based work because it offers autonomy, global exposure, and creative freedom. This is not to say that this doesn’t come with it’s own pain points.
Collaboration is a multiplier
The age-old saying “a rising tide lifts all ships” really does seem to ring true here. When independents collaborate, they don’t just divide work, they increase earnings potential. A solo freelancer might win a $2,000 brief. A pop-up team of 4 can win a $20,000 project. Subcontracting flows, once dismissed as messy admin, become engines of growth.
The future of work: flexible teams & modular workforces
As global work shifts toward flexibility and modularity, micro-agencies and fractional squads will only grow in relevance. For most startups, the need for a full-time CMOs or CFOs on day one is just not necessary. For the most part, agencies don’t need bloated overheads in the form of headcount. They need lean, trusted subcontracting partners who can spin up capacity fast, and they need a system and software that can easily facilitate this new way of work.
For the African continent, it can be both an opportunity and a challenge. The opportunity is to position itself as the fractional powerhouse of the Global South, exporting expertise, not just labour, at a fair price. The challenge is to ensure collaboration, fair pay, and trusted infrastructure underpin this growing ecosystem. That’s where Rafiki Works come in.
Closing thought
The future of Africa’s freelance economy will not be written by freelancers riding solo. It will be written by elastic squads. Collectives of micro-agencies, fractional pods, and collaborative networks that use subcontracting as a strategic tool. The continent has the talent, the passion and demographic advantage, and the global connectivity to lead this movement.
It’s up to us to build on it, make collaboration the norm, and prove that this new way of work really is, the future of work.
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Rafiki Work’s OS has been purpose built for collaboration and subcontracting. Leveraging stablecoin and fiat rails for cross-border payments, Rafiki makes collaborative, multi-party invoicing easy. Alongside an embedded community of fractional talent across Africa, Rafiki helps drive global work opportunities towards independent talent and micro-agencies already leveraging Rafiki OS.
