: ride-hailing companies are frequently accused of destroying traditional taxi businesses, undermining wages, and creating the digital equivalent of sweatshops.
Our analysis draws attention to the need to address the broader societal influences of labour exploitation in Ghana’s urban transport sector. These include the inadequate prioritisation of the creation of adequate, secure jobs and strong labour protections. Car owners, under both sales and work and pay contract systems, normally demand weekly returns of GH¢ 400–500 from drivers. These arrangements did not arrive with the emerging of the ride-hailing industry; they have long existed in the traditional taxi business and are merely being copied by the industry’s players.
The fact that both traditional and ride-hailing company drivers face similar precarious conditions suggests that the roots of the labour issues in Ghana’s urban transport sector go deeper. Tracing the roots of the problem Most people walk a great deal to access work and services in Ghana’s cities. For longer distances, however, they rely on the ubiquitous tro-tros, shared taxis and, in recent times, Okada .
It is against this backdrop that ride-hailing arrived in Ghana; Uber was the first to launch operations there in July 2016. It alone is estimated to have 180,000 active riders and some 3,000 driver-partners.