Written by: John Msingo

There was a time in Kenya when you could go for even a whole day without seeing a motorbike. Yes as unbelievable as that sounds it is true.   

There was a time in Kenya where you could go for even a whole day without seeing a motorbike. Yes as unbelievable as that sounds it is true.  What happened, how is it that now as I am writing this article in a café I can hear one and I am very sure that you cannot go more than 150 meters in Nairobi without seeing one.  

The genesis was a bill that zero-rated boda bodas of up to 250 cc in 2008, by the Kibaki government.  Before that in 2007, the registered number of motorcycles in 2005 was 3,759. After this bill, the registered number grew to 91,151 in 2009! Talk about exponential growth.    

This growth gave birth to a whole new industry. There are varying reported numbers from 1.2, 1.4  to even 1.5 million people working directly on boda bodas.  Yes, that’s right, at least more than a million people earn their daily bread from this sector. Indirectly, we now have 8 motorcycle assembly plants spread across the country further adding to those that this new industry has employed.

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Further, down the value chain, numerous companies that finance these assets have been formed. All these people are directly employed by the sector in my eyes. The effect of this industry is not only in terms of employment. Numerous parts of the country which were inaccessible have now been opened up due to this mode of transport. Almost everyone in the major cities has that boda guy back home. These people make everything move from building materials, and food products to the market, to just people from the bus stop towards hard to reach places.  The impact that this industry has had on the Kenyan economy is indisputable.  

Quantifying that impact in numbers, a study done by one of the motorcycle assemblers above found that boda boda drivers earn about 1 billion, yes 1 billion Kenya shillings a day. This is roughly equivalent to 3.4% of Kenya’s GDP in 2022.  They buy around 300 M worth of fuel a day and this equates to about 60 billion annually collected by KRA from taxes.  About 75 % of the riders are youth who earn about 1000 per day from 15 rides.  This truly is an industry that has touched every facet of the economy.  

In May 2023, one motor vehicle supplier informed the public that motorcycle sales had dropped by 58%.  Many factors contribute to this, the major one being in my eyes the rising cost of fuel. The cost of fuel in May 2022 was 147.86 KSHS. In May 2023 the cost was 182.70. That’s an increase of more than 34.84 kshs. More than 1 million boda boda riders are finding it hard to cope. Most of the bikes are financed by micro-finances which require payment usually between 4$ to 6$ on a daily basis and surely if  you cannot make ends meet what are you to do?  

Kenya’s President Launches The Boda Care Program, Signs Bill Encouraging Local Manufacturing Of E-Mobility Products – https://t.co/c3VUnPEh4C

— MarkHankinsSolar (@MHankinsSolar) June 27, 2023