Safeboda is shutting down operations in Kenya due to COVID-19 pandemic

Ugandan-founded bike hailing service, Safeboda, is shutting down operations in Kenya. The company made this known via its official Twitter handle. According to the company, it will suspend operations as from 27th November 2020.

In the official release, it said, “Safeboda has made a very difficult decision to pause Rides & Send services from the 27th of November 2020. While Nairobi is seeing some economic recovery from COVID-19, boda transportation has been hit hard. This has meant our businesses cannot sustainably operate in this environment and unfortunately the timeline for a full recovery is not certain.”

Safeboda commenced operations in Nairobi, Kenya in July 2018 and it signed on 3,000 riders in January 2020, slashing prices by 40% in a bid to attract more users. Since its launch, it has had to contend with several competitors -including UberBODA, Bolt boda and Juu boda.

The company however stated that it will continue to grow in Uganda and Nigeria and will continue to be dedicated to empowering its communities to thrive.

In Nigeria, the company has continued to weather the storm and is actually thriving even during the COVID-19 pandemic. It launched strategically in Ibadan, a city in the western part of Nigeria, avoiding competition and regulatory issues in major cities like Lagos and Abuja. Another key success factor is the recruitment of ex-Andelan Babajide Duroshola to run its affairs in Nigeria.

SafeBoda was founded in 2015 by director of operations Ricky Rapa Thomson and co-CEOs Maxime Dieudonne and Alastair Sussock. According to business intelligence platform Crunchbase, SafeBoda has raised up to $1.3-million in funding since launch.