Kenya’s online boda boda industry is looking to eat into the share of offline riders as digital platforms introduce new technologies aimed at bringing more trips onto their networks.
Ride hailing platform Yego says it is seeking to move passengers
away from negotiated fares towards systems that calculate charges based on time
and distance.
The shift could change how one of
the country’s most widely used forms of public transport is priced, while
putting pressure on operators to balance affordable fares for passengers with
sustainable incomes for riders.
The company has entered into the two wheeler-market with a digital metering system that allows a passenger to flag down a participating rider and have the trip activated through the rider’s app.
The move comes as ride-hailing
firms expand beyond conventional taxis and target the largely informal boda
boda market, estimated at about 2.7 million motorcycles operating across the
country.
Unlike conventional ride-hailing
services, most boda boda trips are still arranged informally, with passengers
either flagging down riders on the road or negotiating fares at stages.
This leaves prices vulnerable to
differences based on location, demand, time of day and bargaining power.
According to industry players, the
introduction of metered pricing seeks to bring greater consistency to fares by
calculating the cost of a journey using the distance travelled and time taken.
Yego Mobility Kenya, which has
begun rolling out its MeterMoto service in Nairobi, is among the latest
operators testing the model in the boda market.
“Under its system, the fare starts
at Sh100 for the first 2.1 kilometres, with subsequent charges based on time
and distance. This estimates the effective cost at between Sh16 and Sh18 per
kilometre, depending on the journey,” said Yego
Kenya founder and CEO Karanvir Singh.
The more significant issue for the industry,
however, is whether digital pricing can resolve the long-running tension
between passenger affordability and rider earnings.
Already Ministry of Transport jointly with the
National Transport and Safety Authority are preparing new regulations that will
introduce a minimum compensation per trip for ride-hailing taxi and motorcycle
drivers, a move that could significantly increase passenger fares.
The Draft National Transport and Safety
Authority (Transport Network Company, Owners, Drivers and Passengers)
(Amendment) Regulations 2026 proposes a new national pricing model for
conventional and app-based taxis.
Although
the government has not disclosed the proposed rates, industry sources are estimating
the projected minimum fare could rise from the current base of about Sh220 to
between Ksh400 and Ksh500 for cars.
Boda
riders have increasingly complained that fares are too low relative to their
operating costs, while passengers remain sensitive to increases in public
transport costs.
Singh said the company had also
faced pressure to keep fares competitive, despite concerns from riders that
existing rates are not sustainable.
“Passengers need to be willing to
pay more. Only then can the riders earn more,” Singh said.
Digital platforms are also
competing for riders through different commission structures.
The platform which began its Kenyan
operations in 2023 said it will withhold the standard commission of 18 per cent
for rides booked through its app, call centre and other digital options.
However, it plans to charge 10 per cent for
trips started through its “slide to start” option, where a passenger flags down
a participating rider and the journey is activated digitally.
