Boda Bodas Beat Top Kenyan Companies to Make Sh 219 Billion

The boda boda industry emerged as one of the biggest drivers of the economy, generating a whopping Sh219 Billion in revenue.

Figures released by the Motorcycle Assemblers Association of Kenya (MAAK), there are about 600,000 commercial motorcycles on Kenyan roads, each making, Sh1,000 on average a day and the figures translated to Sh219 Billion annually.

According to MAAK Chairperson, Isaac Kalua, around eight people depended on each motorcycle in operation for their daily livelihood bringing the total to about 4.8 million people.

“Until there is a solution to mass transport, there shall continue to be a need,” Kalua maintained.

[caption caption="Boda boda operators along Kenyatta Avenue"][/caption]

Traffic jams in urban centres and poor infrastructure in rural areas were among factors that were attributed to making motorcycles the preferred mode of transport over short distances.

Recently there has been a demand for motorbikes in the delivery of supplies and parcels for both homes and businesses.

Millions of young people in the country have ditched farming and sold their parcels of land and livestock alternatively investing their savings in the boda boda business, giving rise to the thriving industry.

There has been a downside to the growth of the boda boda business among them moving resources from critical sectors such as agriculture, they have created a traffic menace, in urban centres.

[caption caption="Boda Boda operators wait for customers at the Odeon Cinema stage "][/caption]

Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko ordered all boda boda operators to vacate the central business district, with a City Hall official terming them as 'rogues' who did not respect traffic rules.