Inside Nigerian Freelancers’ Currency Trap

Nigeria’s freelance economy is growing, but for millions of digital workers, receiving international payments remains an extreme sport. If the country wants to export digital labour and capture its value at home, it must first fix how that labour gets paid.

It is 2:00 a.m. in Lagos, the hum of a generator in the background keeps the lights on for Tunde, who just finished a $1,000 Figma design project for a client in San Francisco. The work is done. The client is happy. But for Tunde, and the millions of freelancers like him, the real headache is just starting—getting paid.

For a remote worker in Berlin, an international transfer is a trivial banking notification. However, for the Nigerian freelancer, it is a navigational hazard involving intermediaries, arbitrage rates, cryptocurrency bridges and the perpetual risk of asset freezing.

Nigeria’s freelance economy is effectively the new labour market. According to the World Bank, Nigeria leads a cohort of 17.5 million online gig workers across sub-Saharan Africa. Driven by a youth demographic where 85.6 per cent of the employed population is self-employed, freelancing is no longer a ‘side hustle’; it is the main event. But a paradox exists. While digital borders are dissolving globally, financial borders are becoming increasingly thick. Beyond the daily payment inconvenience, there is a ‘hidden tax’ on the Nigerian ambition, revealing the extent of Africa’s uneven integration into the global digital economy...