A COVID-19 SAFE RIDER LAUNCHED BY SAFE BODA

A COVID-19 SAFE RIDER LAUNCHED BY SAFE BODA

By Leah Waweru

SafeBoda, Africa’s biggest motorcycle rider

hailing company has flagged off its 25,000th

rider in Nairobi as the company clocked

100,000 safe rides daily.

SafeBoda began its operations in Uganda in

2015 and has grown in 3 years to be the top

indigenous African motorcycle ride-hailing

company, with market presence in Kenya and

more recently, Nigeria.

SafeBoda currently offers three major services,

commuter rides, delivery services and the

recently launched low-cost local food delivery.

SafeBoda has differentiated its motorbike ride-

hailing service through rigorous background

checks and the training carried out on all

drivers as a mandatory requirement for joining

the SafeBoda Community.

Rider and the passenger must wear a helmet

and a reflective jacket.

Clients are offered a fresh hair net for every ride

taken to reduce the transfer of scalp oils.

The app further offers an In-passenger rating

and feedback option after each ride and

exclusively allows clients to match and pair

with the closest or a preferred rider.

Speaking during the flag-off ceremony,

SafeBoda Kenya Country Head – John Ngari

said, “While employment opportunities,

especially for the youth, continue to whittle

down in these tough economic times, we

continue to find more innovative ways to further

increase our riders’ incomes.

Our mission has been to bring structure into a

largely unregulated environment while creating

job opportunities for young people in Africa and

access to safe rides for the convenience of their

customers.”

“We are proud to have successfully transformed

boda boda from an employer of last resort to

formal jobs with benefits usually given to

formal sector employees.

We further help our driver community to

formalize their businesses by providing them

with a platform to maximize earnings,

encourage savings through the SafeBoda

Sacco, access to a life cover of Ksh 100,000 per

rider, access to an accident cover and regular

training at our community hubs in every city we

are present‘’, He added.

Lynn Karigu, the CEO Motorbike Assemblers

Association of Kenya (MAAK) said,” As an

association, we are committed to promoting safe and lawful motorcycle culture.

This industry is a multimillion cash economy

that is key in spurring economic development

or Kenya through increased employment and

revenue generation.

We look forward to seeing motorbikes take up

their rightful place in last-mile logistics, a

critical plug-in to a growing economy.”

Safety has always been our number one priority

for SafeBoda riders and customers.

In response to the measured announced by

President Uhuru Kenyatta for the containment

of the COVID -19 pandemic in Kenya, SafeBoda

has launched the COVID-SAFE program, aimed

at equipping the rider community with factual

information, prevention measures and

strategies to keep the SafeBoda community

safe.

With the recommendation for minimum social

contact by the government, shoppers are

encouraged to use SafeBoda as an alternative

to visiting shopping malls, order food on the

SafeBoda app and consider taking a safe ride,

in place of crowded public transport.

SafeBoda is Africa’s safest yet largest

motorcycle-ride hailing market leader and has a

rapidly growing customer base currently at 1M,

which is revolutionizing transportation,

payments, and on-demand services in Africa’s

cities.

Based in Kampala, Nairobi, Nigeria, and

Barcelona, SafeBoda is a venture-funded

company that is already having a huge impact

on millions in Africa.