Careem Egypt has partnered with Oxford Economics, the leading global research institution, to publish a report on the Socio-Economic Impact of Careem on the Egyptian market. The report highlights the company’s key contributions on economic and social levels, its activities in 2019 and briefly reviews 2020 data for and the impact of Covid-19 on Careem and its recovery.

Careem started its operations in Egypt in 2014 and now offers its services in 17 cities, making it one of the region’s four largest markets. The report also explores Careem’s economic impact on Egypt by providing job opportunities and increasing employment, injecting investments, expansion of delivery services, and mobility of things. Addressing the social aspect, the report investigates Careem’s performance and its impact on the lives of captains, and the impact of smart transportation on facilitating the lives of individuals and empowering women in Egypt.

The Oxford report highlighted Careem’s achievements throughout the past 7 years since it started operating in the Egyptian market. The company was able to provide more than 60,000 job opportunities until 2019, with a fivefold increase from 2016. The business volume growth was the most notable, as the company increased the number of trips from 500,000 trips in 2015 to more than 60 million trips in 2019 alone.

Commenting on the report, Haitham Essam, General Manager of Careem Egypt said: “We are proud of the report’s positive outcome as it reflects the tangible achievements of our core business objectives, namely improving the lives of customers and the mobility of people in Egypt, in addition to providing flexible job opportunities and additional income for captains. We have also succeeded in increasing women’s participation in the labor market and supporting the growth of the transport sector as a whole by empowering millions of people, which has had a positive economic and social impact, as the report explained.”

Careem Captains – the report stated that about 86% of the captains working with Careem in Egypt have a university degree or diplomas, and that 47% work at Careem adjacent to their full-time job. In addition, 57% of the captains stated that earning an additional source of income and the flexible working hours were among the main reasons to work in ride-hailing, especially with Careem, as it allowed them to spend more time with their families. Almost 50% of the captains said that joining Careem has contributed to improving their quality of life, while 37% confirmed that the additional income from working with Careem contributes to their children’s education and helps in providing the basic needs for them and their families. It is worth noting that captains’ profit exceeded $42 million in 2019. 

Careem Customers – As for customers, the report highlighted the positive impact of smart transportation on the lives of Careem customers, especially women. Careem customers in Egypt completed 170 million trips between 2015 and 2019, where 52% of them, especially women, were able to go out more often, attributing this to using Careem. 76% of women reported that they feel safe while using Careem and they rely on it to visit family and friends, or new places that they were unable to visit before.

Investing in human capital – the report highlighted the positive impact of Careem on the company’s employees. In 2019, Careem provided more than 682 hours of training to its employees in Egypt, and the training courses focused on personal development, time management, career planning and management skills. In addition, the percentage of women working in Careem reached 40% in 2019, some of which occupy managerial positions, given the flexibility in work schedule and working remotely, which helped in achieving a work-life balance.

COVID-19 – Despite the company’s challenges as a result of Covid-19 last year, Careem was able to recover 71% of its trips, becoming one of the fastest recovering Careem markets in the region. The report also showcases the pandemic’s impact on the business, driven by the imposition of curfew, which led to a decrease in the number of trips by more than 75%. 

Careem Express – The data also indicated that the delivery sector in Egypt flourished during the pandemic, with the volume of Careem’s operations in transport services doubling during 2020. Careem offers a holistic delivery service in Egypt, which includes a delivery service that enables customers to send and receive boxed parcels, in addition to Careem B2B service through which 925,000 orders were delivered during 2019, which is equivalent to completing one delivery trip every 34 seconds, or about 9 operations per 1,000 people. Deliveries in 2020 also increased to 2 million orders.

Corporate Social Responsibility – In addition to the benefits offered to customers and captains, Careem also had many local contributions, including its initiative in Alexandria to help people with certain challenges – whose number is around 290,000 citizens – and to transfer Alexandria to become a wheelchair-friendly city. In partnership with the local authorities, Careem has built ramps on the sidewalks of Alexandria streets and private paths on the beaches to allow citizens to move easily.

The company also launched a rewards program that enables customers to give back to the community. During 2018, Careem customers donated nearly EGP 2 million to non-profit organizations in Egypt.

“Oxford Economics Report encourages us to further grow and develop the services we provide in Egypt as it gives us a future vision on the market, our customers and the captains’ needs. We will continue to grow our business in the Egyptian market and achieve a positive social and economic impact”, added Essam.

Careem performance in 2021 – Careem succeeded in achieving significant growth in ride-hailing through the “Go Awfar” service, which comprises 60% of the total trips completed through the Careem app, compared to 10% last year, and this is because the wider segment of our customers uses this price segment. We expect further growth in “Go Awfar” to reach 80% of our operations by increasing the number of cars operating in this price segment to ensure that the service provided to our customers meet their expectations.

Careem plans in 2022 – Our strategy in 2022 will focus on offering our customers diverse and competitive price plans and increasing our captains’ earnings while continuing to provide the best service and the highest safety standards to both our captains and customers. We also aspire to increase our investments in the Egyptian market in the coming period, which exceeded $3.6 million in 2021.

Careem Social and Economic Impact Report was prepared by Oxford Economic based on Careem’s database, surveys, and interviews with captains and customers.