The Employment Gap
Kenya's youth unemployment rate is 35%. Uganda's is 64%. Tanzania's is 13.4% — but underemployment is estimated at over 60%. Every year, hundreds of thousands of graduates enter the East African workforce and find the formal jobs market failing to absorb them.
Meanwhile, a parallel economy of skilled freelancers and SME employers exists, struggling to connect. A graphic designer in Kisumu has skills that a marketing agency in Nairobi is desperately seeking — but no trusted platform to match them.
Zuma Jobs Board
Zuma's jobs board covers 10 categories: Technology, Sales & Marketing, Customer Service, Finance & Accounting, Logistics & Operations, Healthcare, Education, Hospitality, Construction, and Agriculture. Every job posting includes a verified company profile, salary range (mandatory — no "competitive salary" ambiguity), and application deadline.
Job seekers apply in-app with their Zuma profile, which functions as a portable CV. Their completed transactions (as a Zuma merchant, driver, or freelancer) serve as verifiable work history — something a traditional CV cannot provide.
Zuma Freelance Marketplace
The Zuma Freelance marketplace covers 7 categories: Graphic Design, Writing & Translation, Web & App Development, Digital Marketing, Video & Animation, Music & Audio, and Business Consulting. Freelancers list specific gigs with fixed prices, delivery timelines, and revision counts.
The critical difference from other platforms is our escrow payment system. When a client hires a freelancer, they pay upfront into escrow. The freelancer delivers. The client confirms. The money is released. If there's a dispute, our resolution team reviews the deliverables and makes a binding decision within 48 hours. This eliminates the #1 complaint in the East African freelance market — "I did the work and didn't get paid."
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