Kampala, Uganda is serving a healthy dose of Girl Power amid a covid-19 pandemic that sees several women — who found themselves in months-long lockdown and unemployed, take on both new careers and self-defence training by way of Diva Taxi, a new female taxi driver service in the city..
Company founder, Gillian Kobusingye, is proud of her employees, "Our ladies are extremely hard working, very motivated and I like their sense of pride when they are doing this work they are doing it with one heart compared to other people. And that's the difference we have to the competitors."
Diva Taxi now boasts over 70 drivers and claims an industry-low fare commission rate of 25% in order to see the women thrive.
Donna Ochen, a Diva Taxi driver, is happy with the means the professional opportunity financially affords her, "When I saw the Diva Taxi company reaching out to all females who could be interested I decided to take it up because it would be an opportunity for me to serve and earn and support my family with the earnings that I'd get from driving."
Diva Taxi has a fleet of around 100 cars that serve as taxis, special school pick-ups and drop-offs and even functions like weddings. An unexpected and resounding successful start for the company that almost wasn't.
Rebecca Makyeli, the manager and self-defence trainer at Diva Taxi, shares the very early days of the company's journey, "They thought of the idea of why would we have our cars just parked in a compound and yet we can transport people and services from one place to another. So, coming up with this idea it started off as a joke, supported by friends, close friends and family, but eventually, the idea picked up and in June 2020 the company was registered and officially came into being."
With its 72 drivers averaging 30 rides a week, Diva Taxi expects its service app — downloaded around 500 times to reach 2000 active users this year in the city of three million inhabitants.