KAMPALA, Uganda — As youth unemployment and underemployment remain persistent challenges across many African economies, a new generation of tech platforms is attempting to connect skills with opportunity more efficiently. One such entrant is ProGigFinder, an Africa-focused digital marketplace designed to link individuals and businesses seeking work with those offering services, across both formal and informal sectors.
Launched in July 2025, the platform positions itself as a two-sided work ecosystem where users can operate simultaneously as job seekers, freelancers, service providers, and hirers.
The platform is free to use, with ProGigFinder earning only when users complete paid gigs or services.
Addressing a structural labour disconnect
Across Uganda and much of the continent, labour market challenges are less about the absence of skills and more about access and visibility.
Youth unemployment remains high, with over 40% of 15–24-year-olds neither in work nor education, while roughly 95% of employment is in the informal sector.
ProGigFinder’s model is built around solving that disconnect. The platform provides a shared digital space where workers can showcase capabilities, apply for employment, and receive bookings for services, while individuals and businesses can discover and hire talent through a single interface.
The company argues that the issue is not a shortage of work or skills, but inefficient matching mechanisms, a gap digital marketplaces are increasingly trying to close.
A platform built around Africa’s work reality
Unlike many global gig platforms that prioritise remote digital freelancing, ProGigFinder focuses on both online and location-based work. Its design reflects labour markets where freelance gigs, short-term projects, full-time jobs and bookable services coexist.
For individuals, the platform offers:
- Applications for full-time and part-time jobs
- Access to project-based gig opportunities
- Freelancer profile creation to showcase experience
- Bookable local services, beginning with cleaning services
- AI-powered career tools for CV improvement, cover letter writing and interview preparation
For hirers, whether individuals or companies, the platform allows job posting, gig creation, and direct booking of service providers.
This dual participation model means users are not locked into a single role, a feature the company says supports more fluid economic participation and encourages a more inclusive workforce.
Founder perspective: A platform rooted in personal experience
The platform was founded by Ugandan technologist Allan Tumuhimbise Katungye, whose experience balancing university studies with casual work informed the product’s core idea.
Mr. Katungye, a graduate of Uganda Christian University (UCU) with a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, previously worked with multinational organisations across Africa, Europe, Asia and the United States.
Exposure to different labour markets highlighted the disparity between structured employment systems and the realities facing many African workers.
His early experience, physically moving from place to place seeking short-term work, revealed a recurring pattern: people had tasks that needed to be done, and others were willing to do them, but there was no trusted, simple way to connect the two.
That observation evolved into ProGigFinder’s central mission: expanding economic participation by improving access to opportunity and making skills discoverable across all sectors, particularly in the informal economy where the majority of African workers operate.
Differentiation in a competitive gig economy
The African digital work marketplace space is becoming increasingly competitive, but ProGigFinder is attempting to distinguish itself through several structural features:
- Integration of jobs, gigs, freelancer discovery and bookable services within one ecosystem
- Support for both formal employment pathways and informal service work
- Mobile money payment integration tailored to African users
- AI-driven career development tools beyond simple listings
- Visibility across skill levels, from blue-collar trades to professional services
- Free-to-use model, with the platform earning only when gigs are successfully completed
This approach reflects a shift toward “super-marketplaces,” platforms that combine talent discovery, payments, career tools and service booking.
Early traction and market position
Since its launch, ProGigFinder reports early adoption indicators:
- Markets served: Uganda
- Registered users: 4,000
- Android downloads: 11,000
- iOS downloads: 600
While still in early growth stages, these figures suggest interest in locally focused gig infrastructure, particularly as smartphone penetration and digital payments expand across East Africa.
The broader significance
Digital labour marketplaces are increasingly seen as part of the solution to youth employment challenges across the continent.
By lowering barriers to entry and improving discoverability, such platforms can help workers transition from informal, inconsistent work toward more structured income streams.
ProGigFinder’s emphasis on flexibility, dual-role participation, and AI career support, reflects a broader shift in how employment is evolving, particularly among younger workers navigating hybrid income models.
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Whether the platform can scale beyond Uganda will depend on regulatory environments, trust systems, payment reliability and its ability to compete with both global gig platforms and emerging regional players.
As African economies continue to digitise labour and entrepreneurship, platforms like ProGigFinder highlight the growing role of technology in workforce participation.
The company’s focus on local realities, mobile money integration, informal sector inclusion, AI-powered career tools, and a free-to-use model positions it within a wider movement to make economic opportunity more accessible.
If successful, such marketplaces could reshape how millions of workers find income, moving from fragmented opportunities toward a more connected, digital ecosystem for Africa’s workforce.
