‘Many people think taxi driving is a man’s job, but that view is changing’
WOMEN CABBIES ARE STORMING THE MALE BASTION ON NAIROBI’S ROADS AS TAXI-HAILING APPS MUSHROOM
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Kenya’s economy has grown on average by 5 per cent annually over the last decade, but the benefits have not been equally distributed — and women remain disadvantaged socially, economically and politically.
Women make up only a third of the 2.5 million people employed in the formal sector and own only 1 per cent of agricultural land, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
Despite global criticism that the sharing economy lowers wages, encourages tax evasion and provides little protections to users, the emergence of platforms such as taxi-hailing apps in Kenya are in fact helping to empower women.
In the last three years, at least a dozen e-cab apps have launched to meet the demands of a growing smartphone-armed middle class seeking an affordable and safer alternative to the city’s reckless overcrowded matatus, or minivans. Drivers earn a minimum of 30 Kenyan shillings ($0.30) per minute and companies take up to 25 per cent their earnings, but women drivers still welcome the opportunity provided by firms such as Uber, Taxify, Little Cabs and Pewin.
Minus the company fee, fuel and car rental costs, drivers working 12 hours daily can earn on average 60,000 shillings ($600) in a month, say industry sources.
Better money
Faridah Khamis, a single mother of five children, decided to become an online taxi driver in February last year.
“The rates are low and I have to work 12 hours daily — when my children are at school and at night when they are asleep. But it’s better money than an office job these days,” said the 36-year-old women standing beside her silver Mazda Axela.
“I also think it’s very safe for women. I choose when I work, where I work, and which clients I work with. If I were a regular taxi driver, I would be on the roads looking for passengers. The app means I can find customers from my home.”
The women choose riders with higher ratings and opt for locations in populated rather than isolated areas.