Egyptian Transport Startup SWVL Shuts Down Kenya, Pakistan Operations

Swvl has announced the suspension of its daily and city-to-city services in Kenya. SWVL Daly, City-City, and Business-Business are the three services provided by the mass transportation and shared mobility provider in the country. 

SWVL Daly was created for intra-city rides in Nairobi, City to City rides were created for long-distance travel, and Swvl Corporate was created for business journeys. Swvl has announced the indefinite suspension of Swvl Daily intra-city and Swvl Travel rides.

Swvl

“In light of the global economic downturn, we are pausing our Swvl Daily intra-city rides in Nairobi next Friday the 3rd of June, 2022. And Swvl Travel on Sunday the 30th of May, 2022,” the company says in a statement.

Swvl Business, on the other hand, will continue to function and serve corporations, organizations, and private entities.

Read also Egyptian Startup SWVL To Cut 32% Of Its Staff And Turn Profitable In 2023

The company just announced that it will reduce its workforce by one-third, affecting 400 people across the company’s many markets.

Swvl asserts that the move is part of its objective to achieve positive cash flow by next year.

Swvl commuter trips included 300 routes to over 55 destinations, allowing commuters quick access to the CBD, Upperhill, and Westlands. Swvl has also extended the number of routes available, allowing more passengers to plan trips to their desired destinations. These routes include Utawala to CBD, Joska to Westlands, Ongata Rongai to Westlands, and Kiserian to CBD and Westlands.

As a result of the company’s decision to discontinue operations in Kenya, approximately 100 workers who work directly for it in the nation may be impacted. Swvl collaborates with around 500 bus owners who have joined the company as partners.

Read also Egypt’s SWVL Acquires UK’s Largest Smart Bus Platform Zeelo For $100M

In the same vein, SWVL shut down its operations in Pakistan. Swvl stated that it would “pause” daily rides throughout Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and Faisalabad on Friday (June 3) “in light of the worldwide economic slump.”

SWVL Kenya SWVL Kenya

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. 
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh