Cassava Smartech Zimbabwe says its growing on-demand business is set for a boost with the coming on stream of fully-fledged logistics services.
The listed tech giant’s CEO Mr Eddie Chibi said Cassava On Demand, which over the past six months has been offering Vaya Mobility services, had started rolling out Vaya Logistics services in earnest and was bullish over their prospects.
“Following our commercial launch back in October last year, we have been driving Vaya Mobility business growth, starting with the launch of our hail riding services, which have done phenomenally well and are now in every city and town in the country,” Mr Chibi said.
He said over 10 000 partner drivers had signed up to Vaya Mobility across the country and were now giving over 100 000 urban rides every week.
“We are pleased with the progress we have made with Vaya Mobility services, which include Vaya Premium, Vaya Carpool, Vaya Shuttle, Vaya Ambulance and the three-wheeler Vaya Hopper, which we first unveiled at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair last month,” Mr Chibi said.
But the Cassava boss said the launch of Vaya Logistics, which Cassava On Demand had been piloting for several months now, was set to put the company’s on-demand business on a whole new trajectory.
“We are excited about Vaya Logistics and see it unlocking the full potential of the opportunity that lies in the shared economy model on which our on-demand businesses operate,” Mr Chibi said.
Vaya Logistics offers services such as Vaya Express Delivery, Vaya Van Delivery, Vaya Truck, Vaya Tractor, and Vaya Roadside Rescue.
“The scope of the partnerships we can forge across the economy; in agriculture, commercial transportation, construction, tourism and so many other sectors – both with private and public players – and the extent to which we can make a difference together, is truly transformational,” said Mr Chibi.
The shared economy concept broadly involves the creation of economic value for both end-users (such as passengers of hail riding services and freight-handling businesses) and players in the supply chain (providers of the business assets, such as cars, trucks, software and charging systems) to create mutual value across the market, largely using existing assets.
In the case of Vaya, private car owners, shuttle, tractor and truck owners all benefit from Cassava On Demand’s ability to provide them with an intelligent and powerful online platform, that connects them to a critical mass of customers who get to benefit from competitive pricing, leveraged from economies of scale. Vaya partners also benefit immensely from Cassava’s formidable marketing and promotional prowess.
“At the end of the day,” said Mr Chibi, “we are here to help people – entrepreneurs, businesses, vehicle owners – to help people (customers, end-users) in a shared economy”.
He reiterated that at Cassava, the biggest opportunity they see is in solving people’s problems.
“We thrive at turning problems and challenges into opportunities for our stakeholders – our shareholders and our business partners – and for our customers, to whom we create value by meeting their daily needs.”
