Bolt, a leading ride-hailing platform, has entered into a business partnership with Metro Africa Express (MAX), the largest vehicle subscription platform for low-to-zero emission vehicles in Africa, to expand the Bolt vehicle financing programme in Nigeria.
The partnership will also enable 10,000 Nigerian drivers to increase their efficiency by accessing a variety of value-add services, including access to low-to-zero emission vehicles; licenses and permits, insurance; affordable health coverage, and other financial products.
The company in a statement said the initiative is part of Bolt’s commitment to enabling ride-hailing drivers to own vehicles with low equity repayment, as well as support and improve earnings for drivers while allowing them to maintain flexibility as vehicle owners. It also said the planned model in the partnership will see the offering of new solutions for drivers on the Bolt platform using leased cars via the hire-purchase or rental model.
The two entities will bring in their ideas and innovations to launch a lease-to-own framework for e-hailing drivers to lease a vehicle and pay in instalments until full ownership is secured.
Bolt, as a leading ride-hailing company domiciled in Nigeria, is also the first European super-app with the mission to make urban mobility more affordable, safe, and sustainable with over 75 million customers across European and African countries. On the other hand, MAX, having raised $40 million in venture capital funding, is at the moment developing the largest vehicle subscription platform for low to zero-emission vehicles in Africa and a proprietary credit engine that uses alternative data to provide credit scores and subscription access to previously unbanked drivers.
Commenting on the strategic partnership between the two firms, Adetayo Bamiduro, chief executive officer and co-founder of MAX, said: “Our vision for African mobility is for shared modes of transportation to become the norm. We strive for a world where people and goods can move in a predictable, safe and efficient way with zero impact on our climate. Our partnership with Bolt is perfectly aligned with this goal. We are enthusiastic about transforming the transport sector together, enabled by our innovative and industry-leading mobility and financial services infrastructure.”
Also, Chinedu Azodoh, the co-founder of MAX commented that, “At MAX, we are constantly developing solutions to make travel easier, safer and more pleasing. This is what powers our focus on innovation and strategic partnerships. We are excited about this opportunity to extend these solutions with Bolt further.”
Femi Akin-Laguda, country manager, Bolt, said: “We launched our vehicle financing scheme early this year to enable drivers to own a car or motorbike with low equity repayment and have decided to expand the scheme to create opportunities for more prospective drivers. In partnership with MAX, we are looking to expand our commitment to helping drivers on the Bolt platform to earn more and at their own pace, either driving full time or part-time. Drivers are fundamental to our business operations, and it is important to provide solutions that ensure that driving on Bolt is flexible and profitable because improving partner earnings is fundamental to sustaining the trust and loyalty that we have earned over time.”
