Mobility, another sector in Africa’s tech ecosystem thriving above the eclipse of fintech, has continued to ramp up growth with some players in the sector scoring groundbreaking success in a short while.
In 2021, ride-hailing & taxis generated $3.1 billion in revenue, while car rentals generated roughly $1.4 billion. By 2026, they are each projected to generate more than $4 billion in revenue, according to data from Statista.
This underscores a huge market with high growth potential that has bolstered the confidence of many startups to foray into logistics and mobility services. Across Africa, startups like Egyptian SWVL, Kenya’s Sendy and Nigeria’s Treepz, are recording high market performances.
For instance, Nigerian mobility startup, Treepz announced Friday it has hit 2 million completed trips across African countries where it is operational in less than 3 years.
“They say lightning doesn’t strike twice on one spot – we beg to differ as we are excited to announce that we have hit 2M+ completed bookings 6 months after we hit a milestone of 1M+ completed bookings in 2022,” Treepz said in a blog post.
The company launched in 2019, offers bus-hailing services that allows commuters to book and pay for trips using its app. Treepz was founded by Onyeka Akumah, Johnny Ena, John Shaibu and Afolabi Oluseyi, and has since experienced a massive boom that propelled its expansion to other African countries.
In 2021, Treepz announced that it has reached one million trips record, overwhelmingly eclipsing the 100,000 trips it completed in May 2020, and subsequently, the 190,000 journeys it recorded just four months after.
Formerly known as Plentywaka, the startup changed its name to Treepz in September last year as it began expansion to other African countries. After raising $1.2 million in funding, the Canada-headquartered company made an entry into the Ghanaian market, acquiring Ghana’s Stabus. The company also expanded its operations into East Africa after it acquired Ugabus, a Ugandan bus company.
Co-Founder & CEO, Treepz Inc., Onyeka Akumah, said Treepz will continue to contribute its fair share to the United Nations SDGs making cities more resilient and sustainable by reducing CO emissions across its markets as a result of passengers sharing rides with Treepz-powered vehicles instead of driving their individual cars.
“Moving thousands of people from bus stop to bus stop, school to home, home to office, city to city, country to country across Africa is no child’s play. Personally, I’ve experienced the toughest times in my entrepreneurial journey this period, but also, I’ve experienced the greatest joy of building something people want, love, share and are ready to pay for daily.
“With close to 10,000 Africans depending on us for their daily commute, I celebrate all my heroes including my colleagues, co-founders, investors and partners. Keep telling our story and sharing with your community. We continue to build a world-class company with the aim to make you, your families and your teams, move better across Africa,” he said.
