By Juliet Umeh

Despite the boom in Africa’s mobility sector, it experiences a plethora of other challenges which hinder it from reaching its true potential.

But a Kenyan-based company providing holistic solutions to both operators and end users in the mobility ecosystem, BuuPass has said it is solving those keys by offering proprietary technology, which makes mobility a service of convenience and choice.

Cofounder of the platform, Wyclife Omondi, said: “Every day over 30 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) travel from one city to another and over 40 billion dollars are spent every year on domestic travel and transport.

“However, the market is hyper fragmented and broken. This means: A single intercity bus operator with an average of 30 buses and 20 bus stops has its operator using pen and paper to manage their operations, hence causing cash leakage and a bad customer experience. “Founded in 2016, BuuPass is a web platform that enables long-distance transport operators to digitise and manage their services, inventory and sales, minimise cash leakages, and run seamless online bookings through its Bus Management System (BMS).

“It also offers affordable parcel logistics for individuals and businesses that are cost sensitive to high prices from current logistics & shipping providers.

“On BuuPass, travellers are able to explore and compare different travel options and make payments with mobile money.”

Founders of the platform, Wyclife Omondi and Sonia Kabra, explained that BuuPass is on a mission to bridge the gap between the operators and more than 500 million mobile phone users in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Omondi said: “BuuPass solves key customer pain points on the B2B and B2C side while building scalable infrastructure and digitizing the transport industry from the grassroots. Yet, digitising mobility across Africa wouldn’t be a walk in the park, given the continent’s regional complexities.”

What does it take to truly digitise mobility in Africa?

Transportation operators

According to Omondi, “Although transit agencies are a core part of the mobility value chain, travellers often face cost ordeals and tedious booking processes. “It takes travelers unnecessary time and money to compare platforms while trying to book tickets. With BuuPass digitalisation, both challenges are taken care of because we do not only cut costs for users or commuters, we also reduce administrative overhead for bus operators by offering a fleet and parcel management solution.”

IT service providers

According to the OECD report, physical ICT infrastructures such as wireless networks and cables are important for essential information dissemination, from schedules, destinations, and fares. Application Programming Interface (API) also helps to determine the communication methods that allow public retrieval. To deliver on its value proposition, BuuPass has partnered with Safaricom, East Africa’s largest mobile network operator, to provide hosting, security and flexible digital payments through M-Pesa.

Mobility service providers

Also, Kabra said: “As a mobility service provider, BuuPass aggregates key information, ranging from data, including location, time, and price, relevant for travellers and authorities to execute regulatory functions.

“With over 1,000,000 bus users, more than 920 buses in operation and 800+ locations covered in Kenya and Uganda, BuuPass’ all-in-one platform is demonstrating its capacity to alleviate the hurdles of transport operators and at the same time facilitate the convenience of commuters.

“Currently, the platform processes over 10,000 bookings daily and looks to quadruple this number in Q1, 2023. “While the race to digitise mobility in Africa is far from over, BuuPass is one of the few solution providers attempting to ensure everyone in the value chain is catered to, one pan-African country at a time. We are different because we have something for everyone in the value chain – operators, commuters, and regulators. We are ensuring that no one is left behind.”