Investment in Moja Ride — operating a digital transportation platform in Côte d'Ivoire.
March 3, 2021
Toyota Tsusho Corporation ("Toyota Tsusho") and its group company CFAO SAS ("CFAO") decided to invest in Moja Ride SARL (“Moja Ride”), which operates a digital transportation platform in Côte d'Ivoire. The investment will be engaged by Mobility 54 Investment SAS ("Mobility54") – a corporate venture capital subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho group, through the underwriting of convertible notes investment*.
The investment is due to the awarding of the Mobility54 Special Prize to Moja Ride at the Startups in AFRICA – the grand final of NINJA business plan competition, hosted by Nikkei Inc. (“Nikkei”) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (“JICA”) on February 26, 2021. The factors for the nomination of the special prize include the expectation of digitalizing public transport industry in West Africa, by supporting the deployment of the Moja Ride services for informal transport operators in the region.
1. Startups in AFRICA – the grand final of NINJA business plan competition
This is the second such event, following “Startups in AFRICA - emerging new tech businesses,” hosted by Nikkei and JICA on November 5, 2020. It was organized with the aim of promoting investment in the African tech startup market by Japanese companies.
In the final round of pitch competition, 10 African startups selected by JICA provided their presentations, based upon which the audience selected top 3 companies and special prizes were awarded by Mobility54 and other private firms.
2. Public Transportation Situation in Côte d'Ivoire
Roughly 35,000 share-taxis (“Woro-Woro”) and some 8,000 minibuses (“Gbaka”) have been serving the transportation needs of Abidjan citizens - Côte d'Ivoire for many years. The businesses are operated independently by taxi or minibus owners, who employ drivers to provide their services. Consequently, the service information and pricing systems of each taxi or minibus are not fully transparent and integrated to each other. Passengers need to check the operational schedule and destination, then negotiate the price, each time they use such a service. Cash payment of fares is the standard, and daily takings are managed by drivers. Consequently, business owners struggle to keep tabs on their business earnings.
Share taxi (“Woro-Woro”)
3. About Moja Ride
Moja Ride is an Ivorian startup providing a reservation and cashless payment system spanning multiple transport services, centered on the city of Abidjan, currently including over 1,200 taxis and buses. While dealing with issues on the ground, the company has developed optimal systems and services in a business field that requires a deep understanding of the local transport business and the ability to network with related parties.
Moja Ride’s system is expanding to coordinate service and passenger information, in an effort to improve passenger convenience and operating efficiency for business owners. It is hoped that this will lead to greater quality of the country’s public transport.
4. Toyota Tsusho Group Next Mobility Strategy in Africa
Through Mobility54, Toyota Tsusho Group is accelerating its investment in startups with innovative mobility technologies and services for Africa - supporting their business expansion and service development, and creating a series of synergies with the African business of the group.
The Group has been engaging in mobility businesses in Africa mainly from hardware perspectives, such as vehicle and aftersales operations. The investment into startup partners is strategically aiming at accelerating its MaaS/CASE businesses from software perspectives in order to solve social and industrial challenges in the mobility sector in Africa with more comprehensive approach.
*Convertible Notes investment: Bonds eligible to convert into shares of the issuing company under certain conditions
