Ride-hailing firm, Treepz, has officially launched in the country in the bid to provide more convenience to commercial vehicle users (trotro) as well as offer its platform to individuals and organisations in need of mobility services.
The company has designated the country as its hub in the sub-region. The move is coming at a time the continent’s public transportation sector is gradually evolving with the emergence of new technology-driven modes of transportation.
The Treepz ride-hailing services offer good opportunities for both drivers and users in the form of increased choices and lower cost of transport services. Fifteen brand new Toyota and Hyundai mid-size buses (11-15 seater) have been deployed to provide ride-hailing services in Accra for the start and the number would be scaled up to 100 vehicles by the end of the year 2022.
Treepz is rebranding of Toronto-headquartered shared mobility startup, Plentywaka after the later acquired Stabus, one of Ghana’s leading mobility startups to expand its operations on the continent.
Deputy Minister
Speaking at the launch, the Deputy Minister of Transport, Fredrick Obeng Adom, said: “By this laudable initiative, employment has been created for some Ghanaians. We should be happy about this development and resolve to support and promote this business to grow to provide even greater benefit to the national economy.
“The good news is that Treepz attaches great importance to customer satisfaction and also has an elaborate welfare package for its drivers. The service itself is quite comfortable. I urge all and sundry to patronise it to ensure it is not only successful but also becomes a dominant mid-size hailing transport service in Ghana.”
Treepz
Treepz Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Onyeka Akumah, said the company is excited about the Ghanaian market and would want to scale up its service with time. He added that one thing the company prides itself in is safe travel.
“You should expect more travel options; one of the things we do is to allow people to move from bus stop to bus stop. In addition to that is also aggregating different bus operators across Accra, Kumasi, the entire region. This would offer people the opportunity to travel from city to city with these bus operators,” he said.
He added that the company is thinking of injecting more funds to help stabilise its operation in these difficult times of COVID-19, where the transport sector has been largely affected. “Accra has become a hub for us to expand into other regions as well. It has borders in Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin, touching into Nigeria which is like an operational base,” he said.