Home » Remote Work Visas in Africa: What You Need to Know
Remote work is now part of the “New Normal”, and is well set to stay. In 2020, during the pandemic, This new work culture has also seen full-time workers turn to freelancing, thus broadening the talent pool that businesses can tap into.
To cater for this revolution in the working culture, more and more countries are introducing visionary Remote Work Visas, allowing employees to work legally from another country.
But while employees rejoice in the opportunities for travel and the work-life balance offered by such measures, employers are left with more than a few questions. Legally, who qualifies as a remote worker? What does a remote work visa entail? Which countries offer remote work visas in Africa? How to manage them? We give you the answers to these questions and more below.
Remote work, at its most basic, involves being location-independent while carrying out professional duties, meaning that the worker does not need to be present on the premises in order to fulfil his or her professional obligations. Remote work visas help workers legally carry out such duties in other countries.
A perfectly natural question that companies ask is why they should offer the option of remote work at all, especially since it is no longer imperative on grounds of sanitary safety. But remote work is not merely a trend brought on by the pandemic. Rather, studies overwhelmingly point to it as being part of a fundamental change within the global working culture. Even more interestingly, remote work offers benefits for both employees and employers.
Employee satisfaction is key to retention. In 2022, not offering remote work to your employees could well discourage them from staying in the company. Indeed, studies show that 1 in 4 employees in the United States would quit their job if they could no longer work remotely after the pandemic.
Compared to working from the office, 83% of employees say that they are either as or more productive when working remotely. Furthermore, 55% of employees have reported working more hours when at home than when at the office.
Remote work means that companies have less of a need for large office spaces. In fact, since the start of the pandemic, 22% of companies have reduced their office space, which can result in significant savings.
Entering the remote work arena means an opening into a broader, more diverse talent pool for companies. No longer restricted by geographical locations, the best talent from around the globe is made available to employers.
Employees have reported increased levels of well-being and job satisfaction after being allowed to work remotely. Indeed, 76% of surveyed U.S. employees said working from home after the pandemic would make them happier, according to a 2021 study carried out by Owl Labs and Global Workplace Analytics.
It is well-known that a happy employee is a loyal one, and previous studies confirm the link between employee well-being as a result of remote work and employee retention rates. In 2017 for instance, studies led by Stanford indicated there was a 50% decrease in resignations in companies that allowed remote work.
Once a company opens itself to the idea of employing remote workers, it must adopt a new vocabulary, one that features similar, yet subtly different terms such as digital nomads, remote workers and freelancers.
|
Remote worker |
Remote employee |
Freelancer |
Digital Nomad |
Definition |
A self-employed person or a full-time employee with the freedom to work remotely |
A full-time employee with the freedom to work remotely, at least in some capacity |
A self-employed individual with the freedom to work whenever and however they please |
A remote worker, either self-employed or a full-time employee, who adopts nomadism as a lifestyle, moving from country to country |
Working Hours |
N/A |
Follows office hours |
Sets their own hours |
May be subject to office hours if they are a full-time employee |
Time Zone |
N/A |
Usually works at a set time zone |
Has several clients |
May need to work at a set time zone if they are a full-time employee |
Salary, Taxes & Benefits |
N/A |
Receives salary and benefits from employer |
Manages their own pay and taxes wherever they are |
N/A |
While specific requirements differ from country to country, most countries offering remote work visas will ask for the following:
To ensure that workers are able to afford their stay, some countries require proof that they are financially stable and that their monthly salary exceeds a certain amount. Some countries may also require workers to have a minimum balance in their bank accounts.
To make sure that foreign workers do not depend on the local public health services, many countries require them to have health insurance coverage.
Remote work visas, like all visas, are not indefinite and workers can only stay for a maximum number of days before they need to leave or renew their remote work visa.
Despite the disparities and differences in the stay limits in the remote work visas offered by different countries in the African continent, countries like Mauritius, Cabo Verde, Seychelles, and South Africa have been more responsive to this new way of working.
Located in the Indian Ocean, just off the coast of Madagascar, Mauritius is an island nation that has recently opened its borders to remote workers thanks to its “Premium Work Visa”.
South Africa is currently working on a Remote Work Visa that will allow remote workers to stay longer than the 90 days they were allowed to before.
An island nation, Cabo Verde is located in the central Atlantic Ocean and introduced the “Cabo Verde Remote Working Program” in 2020.
Yet another island nation located in the Indian Ocean, Seychelles now offers a remote worker visa.
Remote teams, at least to some degree, are becoming the norm. When diversifying your workforce in African countries, there are accompanying duties such as payroll and ensuring compliance with labour law that you must take on. Of course, there are also risks to be aware of, namely those concerning employee misclassification. All this often proves to be too much to handle, leaving companies with little time to focus on their core business. A PEO (Professional Employment Organisation) can take on these responsibilities and save your company time and money.
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