Africa Automotive News September-October digital issue 2019

News
Egyptian transport start-up Swvl
targets expansion in Africa, Asia
Lahore in July.
“We aim to reach one million trips a day
in Egypt over the next five years,” said
Kandil.
He and two other young Egyptian cofounders,
Mahmoud Nouh and Ahmed
Sabbah, own more than 30% of the
company, he said.
Egyptian transport technology start-up
Swvl will expand into two cities in
Pakistan in the next two weeks and
begin operations in Nigeria’s commercial
capital Lagos before the end of the year,
its chief executive told Reuters.
The firm, which operates buses along
fixed routes and allows customers to
reserve and pay for them using an app,
will also expand into Manila in the first
half of next year, its co-founder and CEO
Mostafa Kandil told Reuters.
“We will enter Lagos before the end of
the year, and our eyes are on Dar es
Salaam and Abidjan,” he said. The firm is
also planning to launch in other South
East Asian markets, he added.
Kandil said the company is seeking
to raise more than $100 million in
a financing round in the first half of
next year, and is targeting a $1 billion
valuation in the next five years. Since its
launch in April 2017 Swvl has secured
the biggest round of funding for a tech
start-up in Egypt.
“We were a company worth about $2
million two years ago and our paid-up
capital is now $80 million,” he said.
Kandil, 25, said the company has been
losing money, but expects to turn a profit
in two to three years.
“This year we have entered about seven
new cities and next year we are targeting
another 10 to 20 new big cities,” Kandil
said.
The Cairo-based firm, which is due
to move its headquarters to Dubai in
November, launched in Nairobi about
six months ago and began operations in
The rest is held by 17 investment funds,
including U.S.-based Autotech Ventures,
Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Oman’s
sovereign wealth fund, the UAE’s BECO
Capital and China’s MSA Capital.
The Swvl app, which has fixed bus
routes, uses the passenger’s location and
destination to determine the shortest
possible trip time based on the nearest
bus stop.
Uber and regional competitor Careem
began operating their own bus services
in Egypt in late 2018, competing directly
with Swvl.
Kandil said he hoped Swvl would
eventually go public, but did not say on
which stock exchange. He said he would
in the longer term also consider a buyout
offer from the likes of ride-hailing giant
Uber.
September-October issue l 2019
Mostafa Kandil, Chief Executive Officer of Swvl
Africa Automotive News l 2019 9