E-hailing Giant Bolt to Launch Food Delivery Service in Kenya

• Bolt is launching its electronic-based food delivery platform to Kenya with the aim of diversifying its revenue sources.
• A dramatic drop in the number of bookings for e-hailing services and a 75% decrease in sales around March this year forced the company to find other ways to boost revenue.
• The popular presence of similar food delivery platforms in Kenya, considered to be the largest food supply market in Africa, means Bolt will face some tough competition from the continent’s biggest food supply players.

Bolt is expanding its electronic-based food delivery platform to Kenya. This comes as the ride-hailing company seeks to diversify revenue sources with the transportation market struggling from constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A dramatic drop in the number of bookings for e-hailing services and a 75% decrease in sales around March this year forced the company to find other ways to boost revenue, one of which is to expand its already existing food delivery company to the East African country.

“We’re already present in 30+ markets across Europe and Africa. Now, it’s time for us to bring the know-how around building a mobility platform to the food delivery industry,” it said in a statement advertising the position of Kenya Country Manager for Bolt Food.

There are reports that the Estonian-headquartered company will launch operations of its food unit in Kenya by the end of 2020, with Kenya expected to become the third African nation in which Bolt Food operates-the service is currently operating in South Africa and Nigeria.

READ ALSO: Uber Launches Delivery Service “Connect” in Egypt

Food delivery industry in sub-Saharan Africa has been on the rise, particularly as car-hailing companies are looking for alternative ways to monetize their pool of drivers in the face of plunging revenue and mounting losses caused by the decline in demand for existing services due to the pandemic.

Africa’s food delivery business is seeing the influx of some very famous brands. Jumia Food is Africa’s leading food distribution company, with a presence in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Algeria, Uganda and Tunisia. Uber Eats, which only operates in South Africa and Kenya, as well as Glovo, a prominent online food distribution company with operations in Kenya, Morocco and Cote d’Ivoire, are also present.

The popular presence of similar food delivery platforms in Kenya, considered to be the largest food supply market in Africa, means Bolt will face some tough competition from the continent’s biggest food supply players. Jumia Food has over 250 restaurants in Kenya with approximately 10,000 customers in Nairobi, while Uber Eats has over 400 restaurants listed in the country on its app. Glovo serves a wide number of Kenyans too.

The venture has also seen impressive growth in 2020 as reflected in Uber’s latest Q2 financial reports, which shows delivery more than doubled. Uber Eats also posted revenues of up to $819 million in Q1 2020, 53% more than the same period in 2019 ($536 million). Rides meanwhile are still on the decline, due to movement restrictions imposed globally to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease.