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You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.<\/p>\n
JIMMY MOYAHA: Between the fuel price increase this week, and the South Africa Investment Conference commitments, we\u2019re going to be looking at the e-haling space and see how that could be affected going forward.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m joined on the line by the general manager for Uber sub-Saharan Africa, Deepesh Thomas, to look at this and see what to make of it. Deepesh, lovely having you on the show. Thanks so much for taking the time.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with reflections on the South Africa Investment Conference. I know Uber was present there and made commitments towards investment in the South African economy. Take us through that and what led to the decision by Uber to continue to invest.<\/p>\n
DEEPESH THOMAS:\u00a0 That\u2019s right, Jimmy. Thanks for having me. It\u2019s great to be here. I\u2019ll start off in terms of our commitment and pledge to South Africa.<\/p>\n
Of course, Uber has been in the country for quite a few years and I think it was important for us to highlight the actual contribution we make to the economy.<\/p>\n
As of 2023, we\u2019ve made about a R17 billion direct contribution into the economy, and we\u2019ve been an engine for job creation since we\u2019ve been in the market \u2013 about 128\u00a0000-odd earning opportunities on the platform.<\/p>\n
I think with Cyril\u2019s call to action around rallying together with private and public partnerships, it was important for Uber to be part of this discussion. Specifically, what we did is we pledged R5 billion over the next few years \u2013 or three years, to be exact.<\/p>\n
Read: There\u2019s a strong case for investment in South Africa \u2013 Ramaphosa<\/p>\n
That is specifically meant to signal, fistly, our ambition and commitment to South Africa and that we\u2019re bullish about South Africa, but also overall to the sub-Saharan Africa region.<\/p>\n
Secondly, it\u2019s meant to invest directly into further growth in the region and ultimately create more earning\u00a0 opportunities and create new verticals that we\u2019re aggressively pushing.<\/p>\n
So the discussion, the pledge on Tuesday, was specifically around the R5 billion we\u2019ve committed into the economy.<\/p>\n
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JIMMY MOYAHA: Deepesh, where would that R5\u00a0billion be deployed in the eyes of Uber? Looking at the South African economy, there\u2019s a lot that the investment could be put towards. How does Uber see that investment rolling out practically?<\/p>\n
DEEPESH THOMAS: It\u2019s all related to the e-hailing sector specifically. So we\u2019re pushing quite aggressively on EV infrastructure, fleet enablement, fleet investment.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re working in partnerships \u2013 specifically for our drivers \u2013 where we need some level of investment that will bring down the costs of fuel, costs of tires, costs of vehicle financing.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re working on new growth levers like low-cost and Uber Moto, which is a brand new part of the business and requires significant investment. We\u2019re also investing into hardware infrastructure, as I\u2019ve mentioned.<\/p>\n
On the merchant side, one of the the things we\u2019re specifically proud about is developing into underserved and under-penetrated areas across South Africa and we kicked off a project about two years ago where we work with the Gauteng provincial government specifically to work on under-penetrated areas like Soweto, where we have put investment, time and effort into servicing areas like Soweto, bringing informal merchants and vendors on board into Uber Eats.<\/p>\n
Read: Uber Eats partnership unlocks R1bn for Gauteng township economy<\/p>\n
What we\u2019ve seen is we\u2019ve created about R1\u00a0billion of economic support directly to these merchants, and we\u2019ve onboarded about 2\u00a0000 of these merchants. So we\u2019re pushing harder to invest into this space.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re bringing in other areas as well, where both transport and delivery services are under-penetrated.<\/p>\n
JIMMY MOYAHA: Deepesh, let\u2019s look at the drivers in a bit more detail. A lot of our SAfm community is Uber drivers who listen to this very show, and they recently were told that the petrol price is set to go up.<\/p>\n
What sort of relief measures is Uber discussing or planning for them? They have very little say on how much they can levy, as Uber charges as rates, but they have to incur the increased fuel cost. What is Uber planning around that?<\/p>\n
DEEPESH THOMAS: Thanks, Jimmy. I think first and foremost it\u2019s really important to acknowledge that drivers are a core part of our platform.<\/p>\n
We had an event three, four weeks ago, prior to all the escalations that are happening geopolitically, where we started appreciating our drivers. We handed out awards and prizes for the best-performing drivers. We are engaging with drivers on a more frequent basis.<\/p>\n
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We also announced strategic partnerships, specifically looking at reducing the total cost of ownership, and this is off the back of continued engagement.<\/p>\n
I think I already mentioned some of them where we\u2019re looking at how we lower the cost of fuel, how we lower the cost of vehicle financing, insurance, et cetera. So this is something we\u2019re doing on an ongoing basis.<\/p>\n
Of course, with the rising fuel prices we are monitoring this on a daily basis, specifically on the marketplace and what\u2019s sustainable, both for drivers and riders.<\/p>\n
What we\u2019ll continue to do is continue to invest further to ensure that there are sustainable levels across both drivers and riders on the platform, and we\u2019ll continue to double down on these partnerships and investing in that, so that ultimately these kinds of impacts are met together from a driver perspective.<\/p>\n
JIMMY MOYAHA: Deepesh, is Uber looking to do any direct relief at the moment? The national government has reduced the fuel levy temporarily by R3. From an e-hailing perspective, is Uber doing anything around their fees to help absorb some of this cost?<\/p>\n
DEEPESH THOMAS: What we do is we monitor and in the marketplace we intervene in pricing on a daily and sometimes even weekly basis. So we\u2019re definitely doing that. And we just regulate the marketplace to ensure that, both from a rider and a driver perspective, there are sustainable levels of pricing.<\/p>\n
So yes, the answer is we are actively monitoring this and we\u2019re actively making interventions into it.<\/p>\n
JIMMY MOYAHA: Deepesh, before I let you go, I had a conversation with an Uber driver recently while travelling through South Africa, and there were talks that Uber would be looking to have the drivers brand their vehicles permanently as part of some of the changes that Uber is looking to enforce in South Africa.<\/p>\n
Is that something Uber is still looking at, and is it practical to enforce something like that on privately owned vehicles?<\/p>\n
DEEPESH THOMAS: Let me clarify that, Jimmy. Thanks for bringing that up. I\u2019m sure you\u2019re aware of the new regulations [in the] National Land Transport Act, which essentially went into effect in September.<\/p>\n
The first step of that is essentially compliance and registration as an e-hailing platform.<\/p>\n
Under this specific legislation, the regulators require every e-hailing driver to essentially have markings on the vehicle where it shows you\u2019re either an Uber or a Bolt or anyone else in terms of markings.<\/p>\n
Listen\/read: E-hailing clampdown: Panic buttons and branding required<\/p>\n
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But it\u2019s more in terms of what we understand, and we are engaging with the regulators quite actively on this. It\u2019s more in line with enforcement, to ensure that there are safety levels and that the entire industry is regulated.<\/p>\n
So that really should not be seen as vehicle branding that is highly visible, because of course we\u2019ve had similar concerns and outreaches from drivers around safety.<\/p>\n
This is not a requirement by Uber specifically, where vehicles are branded. What we do is we make vehicle branding an optional take-up for our owners.<\/p>\n
So, when we work with some of our owners, we will, for example, look at ways to increase their earnings over and above the earnings that they get from driving in the platform.<\/p>\n
So vehicle branding, which is a form of top-of-mind awareness from a brand perspective, is something that we make an optional requirement or optional piece for drivers to essentially partake in. They get reimbursed or funded for that.<\/p>\n
Secondly, as part of one of the pieces of partnership that we launched a couple of weeks ago, we have launched car-top branding, which is digital billboards on the top of vehicles.<\/p>\n
For example, if drivers opt into that, they get up to R5\u00a0000 a month for having that on their vehicles. This is revenue brought in from third-party advertisers who are looking for new kind of digital real estate for advertising.<\/p>\n
So again, these are measures that we make voluntarily available for our drivers \u2013 and it\u2019s exclusive to Uber \u2013 as a way to essentially prop up earnings, specifically because we see some of these shocks that happen.<\/p>\n
But I want to just clarify. There is a differential between what\u2019s required under the new National Land Transport Act versus what we offer exclusively and voluntarily to our drivers in terms of advertising.<\/p>\n
JIMMY MOYAHA: Thank you indeed for that clarification, Deepesh. I know that our Uber driver and listeners would appreciate that clarity.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll leave the conversation on that note. Deepesh Thomas, general manager for Uber sub-Saharan Africa, joined us to take a look at their investment commitments as well as what they could potentially be doing to assist drivers to weather the fuel shocks.<\/p>\n
#Uber #pledges #R5bn #Saic #addresses #fuel #price #hike<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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