SafeBoda

LocationUganda
SectorHealth
Type of investmentDebt
Project stagePilot

A $230,000 convertible note in SafeBoda, a start-up company that is reducing motorbike accident deaths and injuries in Uganda, through the creation of an Uber-like network of safe motorcycle taxi (“Boda”) drivers.

60%

Surgical budget at the main Kampala hospital that is spent on treating motorbike crash injuries

50%

Increase of income for SafeBoda drivers

The development problem.

Road accidents are the third leading cause of death in Sub-saharan Africa. In Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, there are 80,000 motorbike drivers, only 1% of whom currently wear helmets. More than 60% of the surgical budget at the main Kampala hospital is spent on treating motorbike crash injuries.

The innovation.

SafeBoda aims to create a commercially viable network of safe taxi motorbike (“Boda”) drivers. Their key safety intervention is the use of helmets and provision of driver training. Behavior change is generated through financial incentives whereby SafeBoda drivers attract more customers and increase their incomes by 50%.

GIF’s investment.

A convertible note investment of $230,000 will help fuel SafeBoda through their pilot phase, while they iterate their revenue model and prove demand for their services.

Investment objective(s).

Demonstrate that Safe Boda rides are safer than normal motorbike taxis and use results to sharpen the path to scale.

Why we invested

An innovative solution to an underfunded problem.

Despite receiving comparatively limited resources and attention, road traffic safety is ripe for innovation and disruption. SafeBoda is a high-potential innovation whose testings offers valuable lessons for the entire sector.

SafeBoda’s model creates clever incentives for behaviour change.

SafeBoda has adapted some of the lessons from the success of group lending in microfinance to road safety. Just as borrowers want to recruit safe money managers to their loan group, SafeBoda drivers want to recruit safe drivers to the network. SafeBoda uses financial incentives and peer pressure to fuel changes in motorbike drivers’ behaviour.

Click here to read SafeBoda’s Impact Brief.

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