Meet Christian Wamambe: Head of Financial Innovations at SafeBoda
Christian Wamambe Mayeku is the Head of Financial Innovation at SafeBoda. He joined SafeBoda in February 2022 and is part of the team leading the disruption in the technology space at Uganda’s Super App.
We caught up with him for a chat to let us know of his SafeBoda story.
Tell us about why you joined SafeBoda
I joined with a lot of excitement and anticipation about participating in building the SafeBoda FinTech arm from scratch with a group of young, energetic and hungry people that had built a reputation as Uganda’s most promising and inspiring technology company.
SafeBoda had taken on the informal sector, worse still the Uganda Boda-boda industry and had proven to be a force for transformation. Informal transportation remains a nearly untamable beast that governments across Africa and Asia wrestle with, but SafeBoda had shown gumption;
The company had gotten more than 25,000 Boda-boda riders to; obey traffic rules, use smart phones and smart applications, wear safety equipment and even provide customer service to a level unseen in the industry.
If there was a company to bet on, it was going to be SafeBoda and when the opportunity came, I threw my hat in the ring.
But the decision was not without fears, the COVID-19 pandemic and the lock-down that followed had left many businesses on their knees and SafeBoda had been a casualty.
A government ban on boda-boda for nearly two years had meant riders had lower incomes and the company had made cutbacks and many sceptics believed the company was going under and as luck would have it SafeBoda had only recently exited the Kenyan market so why exactly was I up for the task.
The decision…
My mind wandered as I sought opinions from peers and family members, some of whom I had to pitch the potential of the company as though I had been working there for a while.
I eventually thought to myself, “When were the odds ever in SafeBoda’s favour or for any Ugandan technology startup for that matter?”
Was it when Uber launched its motorbike hailing app or even when Bolt entered the market. By then I had convinced myself that I wanted to join the company and my incessant need to be a part of something truly remarkable.
Tell us about your first staff meeting
My first staff meeting took me by surprise, the energy in the room was electric with smiles and cheers and the team was celebrating the removal of the Boda-boda ban that had for long affected the recovery from the lockdown.
The energy continued through many meetings and what was remarkable was the appreciation of the milestones achieved by the company no matter the scale.
Not to take a stab at corporate meetings but they usually wreak of doom and gloom and if you have worked with young teams, you would know they amplify the energy in any room and the SafeBoda approach questioned conventional meeting practices.
The one on one sessions and small chats I had with colleagues showed the ambition of not just the management team but of all staff. The passion and dedication to the work done is truly inspiring.
What is SafeBoda, to you, in a few words?
SafeBoda is truly a workplace that offers young professionals opportunities to express themselves through work and other talents. The company boasts of at least four stage worthy vocalists and only enabling environments support the discovery and expression of talent.
It is no wonder that SafeBoda, which obtained a payments license in January 2022, is well on its way to provide Uganda’s first fully fledged Super App.
SafeBoda users can now buy airtime and data bundles for all telecoms, pay water bills, electricity and TV subscriptions, send money and save money on the very same app that has for years transported people from home to school, work and recreational activities.
All these new features being launched in the first 3 months of 2022, talk about the hunger for success.
Advice to the youth
So if I had to give any advice to my fellow youth, It would be to choose mentors and learning opportunities over money. Many times we are quick to seek gratification at every turn and often we fail to gauge opportunities at their true value but merely for a pay cheque.
It is understandable because your bills are paid with legal tender but in a world that is contracting into a tiny village; the need to have relevant contributions has never been higher, Ugandan programmers are working for US based companies and vice versa.
This goes to show that money looks for value and will go far and wide to get it. Young minds need nurturing and sometimes this comes from baby boomers and Generation X that are perceived as old fashioned, slow, too critical and not in touch with the times. But this too offers learning opportunities.
For the longest time I have been one of the youngest people in a room and I can tell you that fighting for ideas that are perceived as young, naïve and well beyond your experience is sometimes frustrating.
But this experience has taught me patience, understanding, perseverance, resilience, teamwork and the ability to listen to ideas that I disagreed with at the start.
I believe this has made me better at the work I do and has earned the respect of people I consider to be mentors and my seniors.
So for any youth starting a career and seeking to do meaningful work, stay focused, be patient, embrace responsibility, be accountable and find a mentor or organization that is committed to making you the best version of yourself.
One such business is SafeBoda.
