Technology
Online gig site Remotasks exits Kenya
Wednesday March 13 2024
President William Ruto in Mosop, Nandi County for the official upgrading of Kaiboi Technical Training Institute to a National Polytechnic and opening of Jitume ICT Hub on January 16, 2024. PHOTO | COURTESY
An online working platform Remotasks, which allows users to perform tasks remotely and get paid in dollars, has exited Kenyan market.
Kenyan users attempting to access the Remotasks website received an error message stating that they had been blocked from accessing the site.
The platform has in recent years been popular among young unemployed Kenyans seeking remote working opportunities and those in low-paying jobs or pursuing part-time jobs.
These tasks are handed over to the Remotasks platform by various companies, and in turn, are outsourced to its members to help the company complete these jobs.
According to the platform’s official website, tasks are classified under six categories. Users earn by taking up tasks such as copywriting, media labelling and AI model training and are paid in US dollars through online payment platforms like PayPal.
“You’re paid per accepted task. The amount paid will vary depending on the task complexity. We’ll pay you via PayPal on Thursdays, so please be sure to have a valid PayPal email in your account before Monday 12:00 AM UTC to be eligible to receive payout the following Thursday!” says Remostasks on its official website.
Last week, Remotasks reportedly notified users via email that the platform would no longer be accessible in Kenya as of March 8.
“We are reaching out with an important announcement regarding Remotasks operations in your location. We are discontinuing operations in your current location effective March 8, 2024,” the email reads.
“As part of this change, you have been off-boarded from your current project. You will receive payments associated with your work completed via the payment account set up on your profile,” it adds.
The online site became a trending topic in January after a video went viral of a Kenyan explaining to President William Ruto about his working experience on Remotasks where he earned over $200.
Read: Gig economy seen creating 1m jobs by 2028
The head of State was interacting with the youth identified as Brian Kipchumba, an ICT student, who showcased his success on Remotasks, claiming to have earned Sh45,000 since he opened an account on the platform on December 26, 2023.
For now, if you try to access Remotasks, you’re met with an error message saying; “Sorry, you have been blocked. You are unable to access remotasks.com”.
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