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.

“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

Tough days ahead for startups in some parts of Africa. Aside from the recent ban on bike-hailing in Nigeria’s commercial city, Lagos, Kenya seems to be joining the wagon. The country’s National Transport Authority (NTSA) has impounded vehicles belonging to ride-hailing app Swvl which were said to be operating without a Public Service Vehicle licence. Some of the Swvl drivers in Kenya were also arrested during the operation, according to the Swvl CEO Mostafa Kandil.

“We are continuing to ascertain the cause for the issue with the partner drivers’ operating licenses. Once we are able to confirm what the issue is, we shall communicate it to our captains and suppliers. We shall inform all affected users through the in-app services of potential delays on the routes once we collect all the relevant information,” he said.

Here Is All You Need To Know

• Buses belonging to the Egypt based firm had been operating on some routes with a Tour Service Licence in defiance of strict NTSA regulations.
•  Kenya ‘s NTSA said it had asked the police to impound Swvl vehicles and charge the owners.
• According to Kandil, the arrests are based on the status of the operating licenses of their partners, and not Swvl’s own compliance.
• Last year, drivers attached to the matatu-hailing app caved to pressure from the transport regulator by halting services on most of its routes in Nairobi.
• The app service notified users that it was experiencing disruptions on its routes and was working on compliance with the rules laid out by the NTSA.
• NTSA had earlier asked the police to impound Swvl vehicles and charge its crew and owners, accusing the company of using a tour service licence for public service vehicle operations which require a different permit.

Swvl’s Competitor In Kenya Has Suspended Its Operations

• Swvl does not seem to be the only player on the watchlist of the NSTA. Recall that its competitor, Little earlier announced that it was putting a break to its operations since it was founded in February 2019. The first was when the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) in Kenya forced it to do so in October 2019.
• NTSA accused the startup of flouting the rules and regulations of the National Transport and Safety Authority.

“We have been informed that the license our partners use are not the right ones despite being properly registered,” the firm’s Chief Executive Officer Kamal Budhabhatti earlier stated.

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.
He could be contacted at udohrapulu@gmail.com