Gura, a transportation network company based in Rwanda, is set to roll out electric bikes and scooters to tap into the country’s mobility and ride-sharing industry.
According to The New Times, the vehicles will be ready for use in May after the company has finished setting up docking and charging stations.
Gura Ride is a brainchild of Tony B. Adesina, who serves as the company chief executive officer and Agenor Jean-Louis, who is the chief operating officer.
Both are graduates of Industrial Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. The executive team is comprised of six people as per the company website.
Though the ride-hailing market in East Africa is increasingly growing, the electric mobility industry is still nascent.
In Kenya, Nopia introduced electric taxi-sharing services in 2018; Zembo and Bodawerk have promised to set up base in Kampala; and in Rwanda, Ampersand also announced launching this year.
Given the ever-rising gas prices, electric bikes are being marketed as saviors since they are cheaper to maintain and they also contribute to environmental conservation.
How Gura Ride will work in Rwanda
The company has developed an application (Gura app) which will be downloaded on either Play Store or the App Store. For those without smartphones, they’ll be given cards (Gura Go Card).
The company will then set up docking and charging stations in Kigali city, Musanze and Rubavu districts and people in those areas will be able to locate rides using the app mapping system or book manually through agents.
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For those using smartphones, payments can be made using either mobile money or credit cards.
Ike Erhabor, the president of Gura Ride told The New Times that the initial investment is around $13 million and this will go to assembling 3,000 electric bicycles, 2,500 smart bikes, and 1,500 electric scooters which will be rolled out in the first phase.
1000 charging and parking docks will be set up in the aforementioned towns.
Costs of Gura Ride
Gura has arranged three packages i.e. you can book a ride and be charged per 30 minutes (RWF200 – UGX 823 ) or for a whole day (RWF1,000 – UGX 4,111 ) or you can pay for a month (RWF10,000 – UGX 41,116).
These bikes are not for sale and they can cover 150km on a single ride without shutting down and they allow the cyclist to go up on any hill without peddling.
Related:
In Kenya, UberASSIST launched for senior citizens, disabled people
A look at Nopia Ride, the first electric taxi-hailing service in East Africa
