Abdellatif Waked, Uber Egypt’s general manager, said that Uber has been operating worldwide for over seven years in 700 cities around the globe. He noted that the service it provides is complementary and does not seek to compete with the public transportation system.
He expressed his contentment with the company’s business in Egypt, saying that over the course of two years, the company has attracted 45,000 drivers that cover greater Cairo.
He noted that they have been in constant coordination with insurance companies to provide coverage for cars, drivers, and passengers.
Moreover, he explained that 96% of time spent in cars is done in vain, adding that 20% of the area of cities turns into parking garages. “Hence, we began offering communal transport in 30 cities worldwide,” he continued, adding that this method saves money and eases traffic.
Careem’s general manager in Egypt, Hadeer Shalaby, said that her company aims to improve public transit in Egypt. She noted that spreading the culture of the service itself was the biggest challenge facing the company in Egypt.
She added that another challenge was finding high quality drivers that can afford to buy cars to work with the company, in addition to the traffic across Greater Cairo. “With the growth of the company and the service, citizens will abandon their cars and use ours and similar services, which will ease the traffic,” she said.
She pointed out that the company aims to introduce new vehicles to Egypt, such as luxurious cars, including Mercedes and BMW.
The general manager of El-Mobasher, Ali Hassan, said that financial leasing would solve financing problems, especially with the issuance of a new law that allows using financial leasing for funding passenger cars, which is now only limited to transportation vehicles. He predicted this move would push the growth of the sector forward.
