The United Boda Boda Riders Cooperative Union has explained how it operates, how it finances its activities and how partnerships with private companies are being used to improve access to motorcycles and other services for riders.
Speaking about the union’s operations, its chairman Frank Mawejje explained the differences between motorcycle number plates and the requirements attached to different categories of motorcycles.
Mawejje said yellow number plates are used for private or cooperative motorcycles, while white number plates are associated with motorcycles used for business purposes. He noted that motorcycles being used to carry passengers for commercial purposes are required to meet the relevant licensing and regulatory requirements.
He also explained that the union does not directly collect money from individual boda boda riders. Instead, it works through SACCOs established at different boda boda stages, where riders can save and access financial services.
Mawejje said the union’s partnership model goes beyond simply allowing companies to market their products to boda boda riders.
According to him, companies seeking to partner with the union are required to acquire shares in the union, making the cooperative a platform through which businesses can engage with and provide services to its large membership.
He described the union as operating in a similar way to a start-up platform for companies seeking access to the boda boda market, with the companies becoming stakeholders while providing products and services to riders.
“This is not just about coming to advertise your products. We want companies that partner with us to also have a stake in the union,” Mawejje explained.
Mawejje cited the union’s partnership with Spiro, an electric motorcycle company, as an example of how such arrangements can benefit riders.
Under the arrangement described by Mawejje, riders can access Spiro motorcycles with an initial deposit of Shs100,000, which he said is lower than the entry requirements offered by some other motorcycle financing arrangements.
The initiative is intended to make it easier for boda boda riders to acquire motorcycles without having to raise a large amount of money upfront.
Mawejje said the union is looking for more companies willing to enter similar partnerships that can provide affordable products and services to its members while also participating in the cooperative’s economic activities.
The chairman said the union is also engaging companies whose products are commonly used by boda boda riders and their families.
Among the products he mentioned were water, jelly, sanitary pads and other consumer goods. The union hopes to use its organised membership and SACCO structures to create a distribution network for such products.
He said the large number of boda boda riders and their families makes the sector an important consumer market, and companies can benefit from reaching this market through an organised cooperative structure.
Mawejje called on more companies and potential investors to partner with the United Boda Boda Riders Cooperative Union, saying the union wants to create opportunities where riders can benefit from affordable products, financial services and ownership opportunities.
He said the objective is to move the boda boda sector beyond being viewed only as a means of transport and instead develop it into an organised economic community in which riders can save, invest, acquire assets and participate in businesses that serve their needs.
The union’s model, according to Mawejje, is therefore built around SACCOs, corporate partnerships and shared ownership, with the aim of creating economic opportunities for boda boda riders while giving partner companies access to a large and organised market.
