Algerian ride-hailing startup Yassir, which recently secured $30m in venture capital has declared this week its intention to establish itself in Senegal, the first country in West Africa to do so.
Nouridine Tayebi’s firm, founded in 2017, aims to create more than 1,000 direct jobs in Senegal.
“In the immediate term, we will be able to exceed the 1,000 direct job threshold. We will also create indirect jobs,” said the company’s founder at a news conference in Dakar.
Direct jobs will go to local computer engineers, marketing and financial specialists, according to Nouridine Tayebi, while indirect jobs will go to drivers, delivery personnel, and other tradespeople.
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“We hope to have hundreds of employment in each of these industries,” he informed the Senegalese Press Agency colleagues, claiming that the startup had created 50,000 jobs in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.
“In Senegal, we aim to replicate this approach. Our objective is to attract local tech talent in all of the countries where we operate,” said the startup founder and CEO.
According to him, Yassir is an application “born in Africa, for Africans” that would give on-demand services and “access to a digital method of payment.”
Yassir’s mission is to make life easier for African individuals and to better their interactions with emerging mobile technology.
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“Through numerous smartphone apps available on iOS and Android, the company delivers on-demand services like as ride-hailing and delivery services, which create money for more than 40,000 partners, including drivers, delivery personnel, retailers (…), and wholesalers,” he stated.
Nouridine Tayebi, who attended university in the United States, says he wants to “build a 100% African model that will try to promote (…) indigenous technological talent.”
“These skills frequently do not have many chances in the region and, sadly, wind up departing for Europe to find job,” he said, estimating five million users in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.
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Yassir just launched its app, which now has over a million users and 10,000 partner drivers in the Maghreb region.
Yassir Senegal Yassir Senegal
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer