Mondo Ride signs up 2,000 Uganda and Tanzania drivers

Nairobi-headquartered taxi-hailing firm Mondo Ride has so far recruited about 2,000 drivers in Uganda and Tanzania barely eight months after launching in the two East African countries.

The firm entered Uganda and Tanzania following a Sh203 million cash injection which it sought for expansion of its services across the continent. It boasts a driver base of more than 6,000 in the three countries.

The cash injection was sourced mostly from investors in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, according to the firm.

Mondo's latest round of fundraising brought the amount of seed investment raised to Sh500 million since the company was founded.

“This funding round will enable Mondo Ride to provide even more rides for busy, active people across the fastest growing cities in Africa. We currently have operations in five cities across Africa, and plan to open in six new cities by the end of 2018,” said the company.

Mondo Ride services are available across Nairobi, Mombasa, Kampala, Kisumu and Dar es Salaam. Beside its main taxi hailing business, Mondo Ride has a corporate transportation offering, where they serve more than 100 clients across the region.

The firm in contemplating introducing localised options such as tuk tuks in countries like Tanzania, and long-distance bus charters between remote areas in Kenya.

The tax hailing apps are in a cut-throat competition to expand services into more cities and open the service to more consumers, leading to use of means like the motor-cycle taxis, commonly known as boda boda in Kenya, and tuk-tuks (three-wheelers).

Taxify’s app has a provision for hailing boda boda that has become popular in Nairobi. Other taxi apps are Uber and Little.

The apps pricing war has sometimes led to driver strikes in a protest tied to earnings, especially recently when fuel prices went up by up to Sh18 a litre.