Zimbabweans have taken to Vaya Lift – the Uber style ride hailing service offered by Cassava on Demand – “like a duck to water”, according to Cassava Group CEO Mr Darlington Mandivenga.
Speaking from London where he is part of a road show to foreign investors, Mr Mandivenga said: “Vaya is going to be massive for Cassava. We never imagined that it would be accepted so quickly. We have close to 10 000 drivers and it is growing rapidly.”
Mr Mandivenga said the national deployment of the service was well underway and most towns and cities would have Vaya Partners, or drivers, by Christmas this year. He revealed that next in line was the launch of a car-pooling service, to be known as “Vaya Club”.
“We are bringing smartech, safety, convenience and lower cost to car sharing. Work On Vaya Club is at an advanced stage, and we are on course to launch early in the new year,” Mr Mandivenga said.
He suggested the intermittent shortage of fuel in Zimbabwe could be a factor as more and more people were turning to Vaya to avoid using their own cars.
Cassava Smartech – the company that owns Cassava On Demand and the Vaya brands – plans to list on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange shortly, subject to shareholder approval at an EGM scheduled to take place before the end of the month.
