Photo credit: Moove Africa
Lagos, Nigeria, August 11, 2021—A new partnership between IFC and Moove will improve urban mobility and ease heavy congestion in Nigeria's megacity, Lagos, helping to drive sustainable and inclusive economic growth in the metropolis. Moove is an African mobility financial technology firm that provides vehicle financing to mobility entrepreneurs across the continent and is Uber's exclusive vehicle financing and vehicle supply partner in sub-Saharan Africa.
IFC's $20 million financing package to Moove includes an up to $10 million loan from its own account and $10 million mobilized from partners under the Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Program (MCPP). The funding will enable Moove to add up to 1,400 new cars to its fleet, including a pilot fleet of hybrid cars, to support the roll-out of more energy efficient vehicles on e-hailing platforms. The financing comes on the back of Moove's recent Series A, which raised $23 million to fuel growth and expansion into new markets and products. This brings Moove's total funding raised to $68.2 million, comprising $28.2 million equity and $40 million debt.
"IFC's financing will support our efforts to revolutionize e-hailing in Lagos by rolling out new energy-efficient vehicles and will help us in achieving our vision to democratize vehicle ownership, empowering a new generation of mobility entrepreneurs, in particular women, by offering them greater flexibility and transparency," said Ladi Delano, co-founder and CEO of Moove.
Ride-hailing platforms in Nigeria have struggled to meet growing demand from users because of limited access to vehicle financing to support increased car ownership. Car ownership in the country is less than 20 cars per 1,000 people, compared to over 120 per 1,000 people in South Africa. The additional cars added to Moove's fleet will enable an estimated four million passenger trips per year in Lagos.
The investment is part of IFC's, and the World Bank Group's, strategies to promote diversified, inclusive growth and job creation in Nigeria and support the development of the country's transport sector. The limited expansion of public transport as urban populations grow is a major constraint to economic activity, and the private sector will be key to meeting the additional demand.
"Our partnership with Moove reiterates our commitment to spur economic growth in Nigeria by creating new opportunities and inclusive jobs, especially as the country recovers from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Kalim M. Shah, IFC's Senior Country Manager for Nigeria. "It will also help Nigeria meet its climate aspirations by introducing more fuel efficient vehicles to meet the growing transportation needs of its population."
IFC's focus in Nigeria includes nurturing the country's expanding digital economy, helping to narrow the infrastructure gap, supporting entrepreneurship, and boosting access to finance for smaller businesses and women entrepreneurs. IFC has supported Nigeria throughout the pandemic, deploying up to $200 million of its COVID-19 fast-track global financing facility to several financial institutions to help them increase lending to small businesses.
About IFC
IFC—a member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2020, we invested $22 billion in private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
About Moove
Moove is an African mobility fintech that is democratizing vehicle ownership by providing revenue-based vehicle financing to mobility entrepreneurs across Africa, where limited access to vehicle financing has resulted in the lowest per capita car ownership in the world. The company is Uber's exclusive vehicle financing and vehicle supply partner in sub-Saharan Africa. Moove was founded in early 2020 and embeds its alternative credit-scoring technology onto ride-hailing and e-logistics platforms, which allows the company to access and use of proprietary performance and revenue analytics of mobility entrepreneurs to underwrite loans. Moove's model is to provide loans to its customers by selling them new vehicles and financing up to 95 percent% of the purchase within five days of sign-up. Moove customers can choose to pay back their loans over 24, 36, or 48 months, using a percentage of their weekly revenue. All Moove customers sign up to the Moove app to manage all transactions and access other financial products on the platform. For more information, visit https://moove.africa/.
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