Youth in ‘boda boda’ business are set to benefit from a partnership between the Co-operative Bank Foundation and the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) to enhance the employment and business growth for 3,000 boda boda riders.
The partnership will offer riders support in business skills, digital tools to run their business and more important, road safety to reduce the high rate of accidents and loss of lives involving boda boda riders across the country.
In a statement, Co-op Bank said the project will be first implemented in the Coast, Eastern and Central regions of Kenya, after which it will be rolled out to other parts of the country.
To kick off the project, Co-op Bank Foundation said it will be engaging the boda boda riders through their associations and groups, and also owners of motorcycle fleets, and also women who own boda boda fleets and riders who operate electric and solar-powered motor bikes.
Other key project partners offering support to the project include; the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to provide training on road safety and compliance, SAFAL MRM Group Foundation to mobilize the riders for training, Mark
Holdings Limited for providing service facility for the motorbikes, and Co-op Bank Bancassurance to provide insurance and training, mainly on benefits of insurance and risk mitigation.
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is implementing the project under the Employment and Skills for Development in Africa (E4D) programme. The GIZ Country Director Bodo Immink, lauded the project as a key milestone towards increasing job opportunities in the sector.
The Head of the Co-op Bank Foundation Dora Waruiru lauded the partnership as a long-overdue intervention to mitigate the huge challenges of the otherwise promising boda boda sector.
“The boda boda sector has emerged rapidly to become a great opportunity for creating jobs and incomes especially for young people, but has come with huge challenges not least of which is the unacceptably high rate of accidents and loss of
lives. It is therefore a great honor for us to partner with GIZ, NTSA and others to support boda boda riders run their business in a safe and profitable fashion,” Waruiru stated.