Honourable Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Ambassadors and Heads of Delegations,

Distinguished Representatives of Employers

Senior Officials from the ILO and ARLAC,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my distinct privilege and honour to welcome you all to Johannesburg, to this High-Level Bilateral Dialogue on the Future of Work in Africa. Let me begin by expressing my profound appreciation to each of you, Honourable Ministers and delegates, for your presence here. Your attendance at this meeting underscores the collective urgency and shared responsibility we bear as African leaders in shaping the future of work for millions across our continent.

We gather at a pivotal moment. The platform economy is no longer an emerging trend, it is a lived reality for over 36 million gig workers across Africa, a figure set to grow exponentially as digital connectivity deepens. From ride-hailing in Nairobi to e-commerce in Lagos, from delivery services in Accra to online freelancing in Cairo, platform work is fundamentally restructuring how livelihoods are earned. This transformation brings immense promise, income generation, entrepreneurship and labour market access, particularly for our youth and women. Yet it also brings profound challenges: the regulatory "no-man's land" that leaves millions without minimum wage guarantees, sick pay, social security, or collective bargaining rights.

Honourable Ministers, as we prepare for the decisive 114th International Labour Conference in Geneva next month, where a binding Convention on decent work in the platform economy will (hopefully) be adopted, we must ensure that Africa does not merely react to global standards but actively helps to write them. That is precisely why this Dialogue matters.

A Balanced Approach is Non-Negotiable

I wish to emphasise, from the outset, the critical importance of a balanced approach in addressing platform work. We cannot afford to swing to either extreme, neither unfettered flexibility that leaves workers vulnerable, nor rigid over-regulation that stifles innovation and job creation. Our continent faces an unemployment crisis, with up to 85% of our labour force in informal employment. Platform work, if properly governed, offers a bridge from informality to formalisation, from precarious work to decent work. The approach we take must be pragmatic, context-sensitive and distinctly African, one that protects workers while enabling home-grown platforms to thrive, innovate and generate the jobs our young population desperately needs.

Engagements with Social Partners: A Foundation of Trust

I am pleased to advise this distinguished gathering that our departmental team has not been idle. We have held extensive consultative meetings with workers, listening to their lived experiences, their concerns about algorithmic management, unpredictable incomes and lack of social protection. Equally, I wish to place on record our deep appreciation for the constructive engagement we will have with employers in the platform economy. These dialogues have been frank, respectful and immensely illuminating. They have reminded us that employers, too, seek clarity, predictability and a level playing field. The insights gained from both sides have been invaluable in shaping our domestic thinking and will inform our negotiating position at the ILC.

Enlightening Governments on Value and Operations

Honourable Ministers, one of the central purposes of this meeting is to enlighten our governments, collectively, on the practical operations of platform work and, crucially, the value it brings to addressing our unemployment challenges. We must move beyond abstract debates. We need to understand how algorithmic management actually works, what data governance means for worker rights and how home-grown platforms differ from global giants. More importantly, we must ask ourselves: How can we harness the platform economy to absorb the 10 to 12 million young Africans entering the labour market each year? What regulatory models preserve flexibility while extending social protection? How do we ensure that the platform economy becomes a vehicle for decent work, not a race to the bottom?

This Dialogue, with its site visits, evidence-based presentations and direct exchanges with employer representatives, is designed precisely to answer these questions. Let us use this time to learn from one another, to share our country case studies and to forge a common African position that is both principled and practical.

Looking Ahead to the ILC

In June, in Geneva, the world will decide on a Convention that will shape platform work for decades. The Blue Report before us offers a "principles-based" approach, streamlined and flexible. But flexibility must not become a euphemism for the absence of protection. Our task over the next two days is to identify our "red lines," our priorities and our proposals for amendment, and to leave this room with a coordinated strategy and a unified African voice.

Honourable Ministers, colleagues,

The platform economy is a fundamental restructuring of work. It has reached every corner of Africa. The question is not whether we will regulate it, but how. Let us seize this once in a generation opportunity to build a pragmatic, evidence-based and distinctly African framework, one that balances innovation with protection, flexibility with fairness and economic growth with social justice.

I thank you for your commitment, your leadership and your presence. I look forward to our deliberations and to a successful Dialogue that prepares us to speak with one voice in Geneva.

I will now request my team to advise on the agenda and logistics for the meeting.

I thank you.

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