Bolt Food expands footprint to more Kenyan towns

Challenger e-hailing platform Bolt Food is expanding its operations to Kenyan towns Juja and Thika.

As the company cements its footprint within the East African country, the expansion will add to the growing list of restaurants available to users.

According to country manager Edgar Kitur, the platform's expansion is a result of continued positive feedback from its customers on the platform's selection of offerings.

"Our growth contributes to the provision of viable economic opportunities to thousands of people in their dynamic ecosystems, including expanding the restaurant customer base and creating job opportunities for thousands of couriers," he said.

The statement added that since its launch over a year ago, Bolt Food has made tremendous strides in positively impacting the food and service delivery in Kenya.

Kenya's gig economy champ

The brand has onboarded over 4,000 couriers on its platform, creating employment opportunities in the gig economy primarily for young people in the East African country.

Kitur added that the company has also continued to offer training for its couriers to ensure professionalism, service delivery, effective communication, food safety and hygiene.

"As we now expand to Juja, Thika and its environs, our pledge remains to maintain our service excellence for all our customers, restaurant and courier partners," the country manager added in the statement.

Bolt continues to show its commitment to supporting businesses in the food industry – ranging from small, medium to large scale – by connecting them to a wide customer base; whilst encouraging more users to join and support the businesses on the Bolt Food platform, the statement concluded.

Food delivery services have sprung up in Kenya, with a host of rivals including Jumia's service, Uber Eats as well as Kune, a Kenyan food delivery startup that delivers African cuisine exclusively.

Market insight firm, Fitch Solutions' 2020 market analysis showed that the East African country's food delivery sector has seen rapid expansion, driven by consumers and businesses adjusting their behavior due to the coronavirus pandemic, a growing middle class, and high Internet penetration rates.

The Fitch analysis also noted that the food delivery sector is growing in Kenya because there has been significant growth in the use of mobile digital payments, a road network that is well developed and well-connected, and a thriving and vibrant industry around motorcycle taxis — colloquially known as "boda-boda" by the local population.

*Top image is of man on cellphone (Afro man photo created by drobotdean - www.freepik.com).

— Matshepo Sehloho, Associate Editor, Connecting Africa