eBusiness Weekly
Business Writer
Cassava Smartech Zimbabwe’s On-Demand Services business, which signed up over 20 corporate partners during the ZITF period alone, says it is eyeing over 1000 business partnerships in the next three months.
Announcing the partnerships, Cassava On Demand Services (CODS) chief executive officer(CEO) Dorothy Zimuto said the fast-growing business was looking to unlock value and optimise assets, while creating a new digital economy across the continent.
“We are targeting over 1 000 business and corporate partners by the end of our second quarter, in August of this year,” said Zimuto.
Cassava On Demand Services offer mobility and logistics services under the VAYA brand, with services cutting across all sectors of the economy, including but not limited to ride hailing services, ambulance, small parcel deliveries, as well as van and truck deliveries, among others.
Zimuto said Cassava On Demand provides digital solutions by offering partnership-based platforms and leveraging on mutually beneficial business relationships with other on-demand service providers.
“With our on-demand services, the opportunity for business partnerships is huge and exciting because our model is a win-win model,” Zimuto said.
She said businesses were finding it easier to use Vaya Premium, the ride hailing mobility service, for staff members who work late or who do shift work.
She said some of the corporate partners that they had signed up included KPMG, Simbisa, BancABC, the Africa Export Import Bank (Afreximbank) Zimbabwe, Halsteads Builders, Croco Motors, Nyaradzo Group, CIMAS and ElectroSales Hardware.
“We have also seen phenomenal growth in the logistics section, where we have partnered with courier companies such as Zimpost Courier Connect, as well as Nyaradzo and several other FMCG businesses,” Zimuto said.
“Vaya Logistics is everywhere in the country, and corporates and businesses with countrywide branch networks find Vaya-tracked vehicles very secure for their cargo,” she said.
She added that she was pleased with the partnerships they had made in the ambulance and emergency health services sector.
“The ambulance service is a key area of interest to us because emergency health services will always be critical to every economy and nation.”
“And so, we are pleased to have partnered with CIMAS Ambulance, NetStar Ambulance, Belvedere Medical Centre and MARS Ambulance – with more partnerships on the cards,” Zimuto said.
Cassava On Demand started off late last year with Vaya Mobility services offering hail riding services for consumer customers, but has grown to offer corporate services across multiple industries.
“The hail riding services have been a runaway success, as we are now in every city and town in the country, and still growing,” said Zimuto, adding that it had revolutionized how people move from place to place in Zimbabwean cities.
“The public has taken up the service in an amazing way and we are delighted to be now approaching a million downloads of the Vaya App.”
She said she believed the Vaya Logistics services — where they had signed up the likes of Simbisa Dial a Delivery — would truly carry the economy forward through the partnerships they were forging with corporates and businesses in the logistics industry across the country.
Cassava On Demand Services is a part of Cassava Smartech Zimbabwe, the diversified digital technology and fintech company listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.
