The growing car-sharing and ride-hailing transport sector across Africa has attracted the attention of the world’s second biggest car maker, Volkwagen as the auto giant joins the fray using its cars from its newly opened automobile assembly plant in Kigali Rwanda as plank, and also using Kigali as test ground. The new ride-hailing service named Move is already attracting interested clientele. Sources from Volkwagen say that the $50 million project is providing car-sharing and ride-hailing as solutions to first enhance mobility and provide access to transportation to those who are in need of it.

Speaking on what informed the decision to venture into what many have described as an already saturated market where Uber and Bolt have almost 90 percent of the market share, the CEO of Volkswagen Rwanda Michaella Rugwizangoga said that from the company’s survey, there are a new range of customers who don’t want to have the burden of taking care of item, they want be able to drive in the car but they don’t want to worry about insurance, maintenance, fuelling the car etc, they want on demand just in time. And there are too many people who still prefer to take the traditional taxis, he said.

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The company says that presently, the Volkswagen ride-service has 23,000 registered users in Kigali, even though only 2,200 of them are active users. Moreso, Move is offering rides at 50 percent less than what existing ride-sharing platforms offer which makes it cost effective to users.

Speaking on whether the new ride-sharing platform will be able to unseat Uber or Bolt, some in Kigali say that while VW may not be able to take over the market, because it will not be able to take all the people who need to move around, even if it was the only company available on the market. But the market is pretty huge as there are too many people who still prefer to take the traditional taxis.

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Officials of Volkwagen say that the test run of the business model will take two years before assessment first assessment which will determine if the program would continue or not, and if it will be replicated in other African countries.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.