Street naming opens new business avenues in Kigali

CITY Food delivery, as a business, is set to reap big from the recent initiative by the City of Kigali to name city streets and give homes addresses.The systematic addressing system has made it possible for clients to specify their location while ordering from the delivery services. It is a progressive initiative, a move away from the commonly-ridiculed “mango tree directory” where a person would describe their abode as “located past the big mango tree, near a salon that shares a verandah with the white-tiled butchery.”The naming system has been complemented by the Google mapping, currently being done by volunteers from tech community that gathers monthly at K-Lab, a local technology hub, for the activity.Through the Google mapping, one can type in a location and find a map with named streets and major buildings illustrated.Mark Musasizi, the founder and proprietor of Foodcourt.rw, a new food delivery service in Kigali, said the street naming has not only provided a chance to do business but also helped in efficiency and cost.“The development has made it possible to find clients’ homes while making deliveries. This saves time, which means efficiency and reduces cost of fuel that would otherwise be spent trying to locate a client,” he said.Foodcourt.rw is currently in talks with Meze Fresh, a Mexican restaurant in Kimihurura, Kigali, to work with other restaurants and food outlets.Hello Foods Rwanda, which joined the market in September, is another firm that could benefit from the addressing system. The company, affiliated to Foodpanda, an online food delivery platform with a presence in more than 30 countries worldwide, has been working with restaurants all over the city to deliver orders to clients at their place of work or home.Gijs van Maasakkers, Hello Food country manager, said Rwanda has many strong factors that can spur a food delivery service.“Rwanda is developing fast. The restaurant scene in Kigali is incredibly strong, but it’s also almost impossible to order food deliveries. We spotted an opportunity to offer a revolutionary, incredibly convenient service to professionals looking to order a quick lunch to their desk; to mums who want to take a break from cooking and washing up,” Maasakkers said.“Most restaurants do not deliver; yet people are in need of food when sitting in their office during lunch hour, when they have friends over in the evening and don’t want to cook, when it rains, or any other occasion when they need food fast without too much effort. We have a great opportunity.”The firm partners with restaurants to provide an online delivery service where clients can order online and have meals delivered.“When choosing restaurants, we focus on great food, flawless customer service, and variety that will please our customers. Our goal is to work with every single restaurant that can reliably produce and deliver great food. We work with all cuisines, Rwandan, pizza, continental, vegetarian or Asian. Every price point is covered, from cheap to fancy,” Maasakkers added.The firm had it’s first African branch in Nigeria, last year, followed by Morocco before it covered the West African region. Rwanda is the firm’s seventh and latest entrant. Hello Food is currently trying to create awareness and explain their business model to clients and restaurants. They have been able to sign up restaurants all over the city.“The response has been positive. Because it is a completely new service, our main challenge is to ‘educate’ people how the business model works. Restaurant owners are entrepreneurs, and are really looking to build their businesses, since we bring them new customers with no up front cost,” he said.“A general response from customers is that “I’ve been waiting for something like this for ages.” People don’t have to come out of their office for lunch if they are busy anymore, they don’t have to go all the way to the restaurant for takeaway.”The cold and rainy weather which would be considered by most entrepreneurs as bad for business is a good chance for food delivery services to serve their clients. Musasizi, of Foodcourt.rw, says such weather conditions are best for business, because “more orders come in during cold and rainy season as clients don’t want to go out much.”

National

Street naming opens new business avenues in Kigali