African Bicycle Culture: Boda Boda
Introduction
The business environment is a combination of internal and external factors that influence a company's operating situation. The business environment can include factors such as: clients and suppliers; its competition and owners; improvements in technology; laws and government activities; and market, social and economic trends.
The boda-boda taxis are part of the African bicycle culture; they started in the 1960s and 1970s and are still spreading from their origin on the Kenyan - Ugandan border to other regions. The name originated from a need to transport people across the "no-mans-land" between the border posts without the paperwork involved with using motor vehicles crossing the international border. This started in the southern border crossing town of Busia (Kenya/Uganda), where there is over half a mile between the gates, and quickly spread to the northern border town of Malaba (Kenya).
Boda boda operate where more conventional services are uneconomic or physically impossible. They are found in urban and rural areas where they act primarily as feeder services to the towns or major public transport routes. Because of their limited capacity travel costs per km are 2-7 times those of large capacity buses, but cheaper than sole hire taxis. Their popularity derives from the convenience they offer and ability to meet demands that other services cannot. Whilst the poorest make only occasional use of boda boda, due to low income and high cost constraints, for many they provide identifiable ways of enhancing income by extending the range and intensity of productive activities. Their greatest impact on the poor is through the employment provided. Operators are drawn mostly from the least educated classes and each is shown to support an average of 6 dependants including themselves.
Majority of boda boda users are drawn mainly from workers of the business community and students. Many boda boda operators are usually individuals with low education levels
The business environment is a combination of internal and external factors that influence a company's operating situation. The business environment can include factors such as: clients and suppliers; its competition and owners; improvements in technology; laws and government activities; and market, social and economic trends.
The boda-boda taxis are part of the African bicycle culture; they started in the 1960s and 1970s and are still spreading from their origin on the Kenyan - Ugandan border to other regions. The name originated from a need to transport people across the "no-mans-land" between the border posts without the paperwork involved with using motor vehicles crossing the international border. This started in the southern border crossing town of Busia (Kenya/Uganda), where there is over half a mile between the gates, and quickly spread to the northern border town of Malaba (Kenya).
Boda boda operate where more conventional services are uneconomic or physically impossible. They are found in urban and rural areas where they act primarily as feeder services to the towns or major public transport routes. Because of their limited capacity travel costs per km are 2-7 times those of large capacity buses, but cheaper than sole hire taxis. Their popularity derives from the convenience they offer and ability to meet demands that other services cannot. Whilst the poorest make only occasional use of boda boda, due to low income and high cost constraints, for many they provide identifiable ways of enhancing income by extending the range and intensity of productive activities. Their greatest impact on the poor is through the employment provided. Operators are drawn mostly from the least educated classes and each is shown to support an average of 6 dependants including themselves.
Majority of boda boda users are drawn mainly from workers of the business community and students. Many boda boda operators are usually individuals with low education levels