The rapid population growth has caused major problems with urban transport in major African cities. Between traffic jams and the quality of road infrastructure, Some find it wiser to take traditional transport means: cab taxi. 

SafeBoda is a digital solution developed by a Ugandan startup. It is, among other things, an on-demand urban transport and financial service.  The Kampala-based startup behind the solution was founded in 2015 by Ricky Rapa Thomson, Alastair Sussock, and Maxime Dieudonné.

According to the startup, “right from day one, SafeBoda has been [the] safest option for affordable rides within the city. Innovation being one of its core values, and now with the Bank of Uganda license, SafeBoda is creating a whole lot more value for its community of customers and drivers in Uganda.”  

Through its Android and iOS apps, users can create their accounts to access its services. The solution that was only for on-demand cab taxi service introduced car transportation and now offers additional services including last-mile delivery, e-commerce, fee-free money transfers, bill payment, etc.

“We are building a global product that is going to be available in cities across Africa…and SafeBoda will continue to build better services that will allow us to serve the population better and grow beyond Uganda so that anyone in Africa will have access to services just by clicking a button. We will also make sure that the lives of our drivers are improved,”  says Ricky Rapa Thomson.

Users can pay for their rides and services via the integrated SafeBoda wallet that can be loaded by mobile money, agents, and even drivers. The startup even offers up to 10% interest on unused funds in users’ wallets. 

The startup said that in Kampala alone, it has achieved over 30 million safer rides. Building on that achievement, it started its continental expansion, launching in countries like Nigeria and Kenya. 

According to Play Store, the Android version of the super application has already been downloaded more than a million times. Despite fierce competition from international firms like Uber and Bolt in the on-demand transportation segment and Jumia in e-commerce, SafeBoda is not wavering. Although it had to pull out of the Kenyan and Nigerian markets for various reasons, it is focusing on its growth in Uganda to re-launch a new expansion plan in the coming years with its investors’ support. 

Adoni Conrad Quenum