Africa is seriously attracting the attention of investors despite the global economic turmoil. To lend credence to this, Gawana, a ride-sharing platform is expected to launch in Rwanda in March, 2017.
The of aim of Gawana is to offer travelers a more comfortable and cost effective alternative to commercial buses, and assist taxi owners travelling long journeys save on fuel by posting their available seats to the Gawana mobile app.
According to Darcy Dwyer, a Gawana Co-founder said: “This concept of ride-sharing already takes place on an informal level: cars will stop at the bus station before departing on their journey to pick up stranded travelers in need of a ride.
“While buses are often full when passing towns along the route, the Gawana mobile application proposes pickup locations along the driver’s intended route so that passengers can reserve their seat in advance.
“Ultimately, the goal of Gawana is to introduce ride-sharing in East Africa while providing business opportunities for East Africans.
Dwyer concluded saying: “While sharing economy initiatives like Airbnb have become popular, long distance transport is a serious problem in most African countries. We wanted to bring a sharing economy solution to transport problems.”
Interestingly, the first prototype was developed as a practicum project for IT master’s students at Carnegie Mellon University in Rwanda.
After its launch in Kenya in March, it plans to expand to Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania with the goal of spreading throughout Eastern and Southern Africa.
