Through a partnership with Volkswagen Rwanda will become the first country in Africa to introduce the concept of “mobility” rather than car ownership. VW has opened a 5 000-vehicle-a-year assembly facility in the capital Kigali. Headed up by VW South Africa, the roll-out will also be a first for VW globally, according to Thomas Schaefer, chairman and managing director of Volkswagen Group South Africa. A Rwandan software development start-up company, Awesomity Lab, has been appointed to develop a mobility app that will give what Schafer describes as “tech savvy” Rwandans access to vehicles on demand rather than full ownership. The first service to be offered will be community car sharing which will launch in quarter two, with around 150 vehicles in service within a few months. This will be followed later this year by a ride hailing service with some 150 vehicles initially. In 2019 public car sharing with some 250 cars will be launched, and this will be followed by a shuttle service.
