Alternative Africa

Top Menu

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business
  • Environment
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Reports
    • Africa-Observers
      • Read Reports
      • Submit a story
  • MORE
    • Health
    • News Now
    • World
    • Technology
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us

logo

Alternative Africa

  • Home
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business
  • Environment
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Reports
    • Africa-Observers
      • Read Reports
      • Submit a story
  • MORE
    • Health
    • News Now
    • World
    • Technology
  • Eight injured after suspected terrorist attack in Sweden

  • Interpol raises alarm after China, South Africa seize large consignment of fake coronavirus vaccines

  • Rwanda govt turns to power tillers to help small farmers mechanize agriculture

  • Covax floods Africa with vaccines to curtail emerging resurgence of covid-19 virus

  • Covid-19: World Bank readies emergency vaccine fund for 30 African countries

BusinessNews Now
Home›Business›Self-service car sharing comes to Morocco

Self-service car sharing comes to Morocco

By alternativeafrica
November 23, 2017
748
0
Share:

It’s the perfect match for modern day living: self-service cars, by the hour or day, accessible 24/7 and with parking, fuel and insurance costs included.

This, a first for Morocco, is on offer in Casablanca from the startup Carmine. Now that self-service bikes have rolled into the country, cars are following suit and offer a much-wanted service in the economic capital, burdened with increasing, chaotic traffic.

The firm was created in 2014, and tested the waters with a pilot project in July 2015. According to CEO and founder Mohamed Mrani Alaoui, this was, “A period during which we really reached maturity.” There was a lot to do: running trials on rates, defining parking spaces through a partnership with the city, personalising technology and getting to know client needs.

“People thought the concept wouldn’t work in Morocco, to judge by the time it took us to go into commercial operation,” says Alaoui. “But that pilot period was about making the new service more effective. And then, the hardest part was to find funding. I started out alone with my own savings and we were extra careful until we found investors.” 

The deal was finalised when former minister of transportation Karim Ghellab signed up to the venture as an associate through his investment fund Massir Invest. This is the kind of backing that enabled the effective launch of Carmine in mid-October 2017.

Given the nature of the business, explains Aloui, it’s necessary to juggle between the investor who is advancing the working capital, the leasing companies that finance the vehicles, and the bank. “Bringing these three parties together is very difficult,” he says.

Now, the startup can follow its ambitions. To gauge the quality of the service, Carmine must take into account a sample of 40 individual users per shared vehicle; 3,600 users in total for the 120 expected vehicles over a span of four years. Rates start at Dh30 ($3) per hour plus Dh1 per kilometre, with a subscription ranging between Dh290 for a quarter and Dh890 for a full year – fuel, insurance, and parking included.

Corporate philosophy

Carmine’s corporate philosophy is about more than just offering vehicles and the founder is committed to working towards safer driving habits. In Carmine’s fleet of vehicles in-car technology saves all information related to clients’ driving, be it accelerations or decelerations, turns, speed, etc.

When the vehicle runs at 80km/hr on a road where the limit is 60, the company is sent a warning. This information, which remains confidential, is then turned into grades. A client who gets less than seven out of 10 is given a period of time to improve should they wish to retain their membership. And the other way around: people scoring more than nine out of 10 benefit from special offers. “This is our way of encouraging people to be careful on the road,” the CEO said.

Having trained in actuarial methods in Montreal, then in San Francisco, Alaoui has always seen himself as an entrepreneur. The idea of a shared car service came to him upon his return to Morocco. “I didn’t have a car when I got back to Casablanca. Coming back from the USA, where such services are widespread, while here nothing of this sort was in place, I set myself to work.”

The typical clientele interested in Alaoui’s service ranges from young professionals such as himself to people in transit, families or companies in occasional need of a main or secondary vehicle and university students. This is a car-sharing service totally suited to the collaborative economy, as is becoming more and more widespread throughout the world.

Stéphanie Jacob, L’Economiste

SHARE ON:
TagsAfricaBreakingBusinessMoroccoNewsSolutions and CoUber
Previous Article

When is Thanksgiving Day and why is ...

Next Article

Zimbabwe needs immediate economic reforms, warns IMF

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

alternativeafrica

Related articles More from author

  • News NowWorld

    Will new tax spur economic reform in UAE, Saudi Arabia?

    January 1, 2018
    By alternativeafrica
  • AfricaBusinessHealthNews Now

    Senegal launches digital platform for integrated healthcare payment

    May 1, 2019
    By alternativeafrica
  • World

    Sarmad Masud on feminism, My Pure Land, and Pakistan

    October 2, 2017
    By alternativeafrica
  • News NowWorld

    Myanmar crisis textbook example of ethnic cleansing: UN

    September 11, 2017
    By alternativeafrica
  • News NowWorld

    Khalid Albaih: How I created Colin Kaepernick cartoon

    September 8, 2017
    By alternativeafrica
  • News Now

    Dutch tourists attacked in South Africa return home

    September 27, 2017
    By alternativeafrica

Leave a reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

You might be interested

  • AfricaBusinessNews Now

    Kenya becomes first country to adopt air cargo quality platform

  • News NowPolitics

    Eritrea’s president to visit Ethiopia, embassy to re-open

  • News NowPoliticsWorld

    Zimbabwe: Government Decries US Renewal of Sanctions

Timeline

  • March 4, 2021

    Eight injured after suspected terrorist attack in Sweden

  • March 4, 2021

    Interpol raises alarm after China, South Africa seize large consignment of fake coronavirus vaccines

  • March 4, 2021

    Rwanda govt turns to power tillers to help small farmers mechanize agriculture

  • March 4, 2021

    Covax floods Africa with vaccines to curtail emerging resurgence of covid-19 virus

  • March 3, 2021

    Covid-19: World Bank readies emergency vaccine fund for 30 African countries

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Lagos govt confirms first case of deadly coronavirus infection in Nigeria

    By alternativeafrica
    February 28, 2020
  • Keynote Address of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at 2018 Oxford Africa Conference

    By PSJ Africa
    May 14, 2018
  • Morocco begins regional integration by connecting Casablanca Airport with High Speed Train

    By alternativeafrica
    January 4, 2020
  • Kenyan govt pressure Facebook for data on Kenyan users

    By alternativeafrica
    November 20, 2019
  • Nigeria: 32,000 capacity Lagos rice mill to start production in 2020

    By alternativeafrica
    December 23, 2019
  • Ado zagi
    on
    January 12, 2021

    Nigeria: EFCC Academy to begin award of degree

    Diploma leave areply from
  • Ethiopia joins Africa's Artificial Intelligence revolution | Alternative Africa
    on
    October 2, 2020

    Spending on Artificial Intelligence Systems in Africa, Middle East to top $374 million in 2020

    […] Many African countries ...
  • The 5 most popular Africans 2020
    on
    September 25, 2020

    Celebrating Congolese doctor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the man behind breakthrough of Ebola cure

    […] Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two | taktik(z) GDI (Government Defense ...
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack fol­lowed a January ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack followed a ...
AlternativeAfrica.com is an independent Pan African News Website dedicated primarily to influencing the negative narratives about Africa. We hope to do this by focusing and showcasing the many developmental strides sweeping across the continent.

Read more >>>

Contact Info

  • info@alternativeafrica.com
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Eight injured after suspected terrorist attack in Sweden

    By alternativeafrica
    March 4, 2021
  • Interpol raises alarm after China, South Africa seize large consignment of fake coronavirus vaccines

    By alternativeafrica
    March 4, 2021
  • Rwanda govt turns to power tillers to help small farmers mechanize agriculture

    By alternativeafrica
    March 4, 2021
  • Covax floods Africa with vaccines to curtail emerging resurgence of covid-19 virus

    By alternativeafrica
    March 4, 2021
  • Lagos govt confirms first case of deadly coronavirus infection in Nigeria

    By alternativeafrica
    February 28, 2020
  • Keynote Address of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at 2018 Oxford Africa Conference

    By PSJ Africa
    May 14, 2018
  • Macron in Ivory Coast to launch anti-terrorism academy

    By alternativeafrica
    December 21, 2019
  • Kenyan govt pressure Facebook for data on Kenyan users

    By alternativeafrica
    November 20, 2019
  • Ado zagi
    on
    January 12, 2021

    Nigeria: EFCC Academy to begin award of degree

    Diploma leave areply from
  • Ethiopia joins Africa's Artificial Intelligence revolution | Alternative Africa
    on
    October 2, 2020

    Spending on Artificial Intelligence Systems in Africa, Middle East to top $374 million in 2020

    […] Many African countries ...
  • The 5 most popular Africans 2020
    on
    September 25, 2020

    Celebrating Congolese doctor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the man behind breakthrough of Ebola cure

    […] Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two | taktik(z) GDI (Government Defense ...
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack fol­lowed a January ...

Photostream

    Follow us

    • Home
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
    © Copyright Alternative Africa 2019. All rights reserved.