Empowering Women through Commercial Taxi and Bus Driving
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
Women | Tools | Technology: Building Opportunities & Economic Power competition.
This initiative plans to break women into the lucrative commercial transport business in Nigeria through teaching low income women to drive vehicles and organising them into cooperatives thereby helping them meet the minimum criteria for government schemes leasing vehicles to citizens for commercial transportation
About You
Section 1: About You
Section 2: About Your Organization
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
Organization Name
South Saharan Social Development Organisation
Organization Website
Organization Phone
+234 8051774677
Organization Address
Floor, Gbujas Plaza, 55 Chime Avenue, New Haven, Enugu, Enugu State
Organization Country
Nigeria
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
How long has this organization been operating?
More than 5 years
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Your idea
Name Your Project
Empowering Women through Commercial Taxi and Bus Driving
Describe Your Idea
This initiative plans to break women into the lucrative commercial transport business in Nigeria through teaching low income women to drive vehicles and organising them into cooperatives thereby helping them meet the minimum criteria for government schemes leasing vehicles to citizens for commercial transportation
Country your work focuses on
Nigeria, EN
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
In Nigeria despite unlimited economic potentials in transportation activities that could benefit women, this sector has remained exclusively male dominated. Company, taxi, commercial bus and luxurious driving activities are all done by men. Transportation is a fast income generating sector. Both government and private sectors invest heavily on it. In recent years the state and federal government have invested billions of Naira in purchasing and leasing commercial vehicles to citizens. Few examples include the Federal Government National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), tricycle leasing project, the Enugu state Government Taxi leasing project, the Anambra State Taxi leasing Project, etc. Across the 36 states in Nigeria, each state government has also rolled out buses for its citizens, complementing the thousands of commercial vehicles already plying the roads. In addition, companies and individuals also employ thousands of drivers annually. In none of these schemes are women benefiting in significant numbers. A recent newspaper articles indicated that companies would be willing to hire well trained, qualified women drivers. Training women on commercial driving will give them the minimum tool required to participate in transportation activities for their economic wellbeing. This idea is different and unique because this will be the first ever driving training to be organized exclusively for women in Nigeria for commercial purposes. It is also unique because after the training the women will be organized into a cooperative through which they can lease vehicles for commercial business. This will be the first ever women drivers cooperative in Nigeria.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
Tell us about the social impact of your innovation. Please include both numbers and stories as evidence of this impact
Transportation is a significant social and economic factor. It creates income and economic opportunities for millions of people. In Nigeria, about 50% of the workforce earns their living through transportation. In Enugu State where the training will start first, 70% of the workforce earns their income through taxi and commercial bus driving. Taxi and commercial bus driving is such an income generating activity that people after work, still use their private car for commercial purposes to get income for their economic well-being and families. 60% of children education is sponsored by their parents through income from transportation activities.
Transportation is such an important economic actor that the state government invested billions of Naira in the last one year and rolled out 2000 cars and 500 luxury buses for lease to citizens for commercial driving activities. As a result of these, many unemployed youth have engaged themselves in driving as a source of daily income. These have created employment opportunities for more than 5,000 unemployed youth and men in the state within one year of the current administration.
Even with this addition to the transport sector, there are still not enough vehicles for public transportation. At the end of business every day, hundreds of people can be seen scrambling for buses in every major city in Nigeria. Women’s inclusion in this business will increase transportation for people and create a whole new income stream for women thereby improving overall household incomes. Furthermore, with heightened cases of kidnapping and armed robberies on commercial vehicles, many people especially women will feel safer in vehicles being driven and controlled by women. It has also been demonstrated through various studies that women are safer drivers, which means that their incursion into the transport business will reduce the rate of accidents on the road. Women also have a higher repayment rate than men when it comes to credit facilities. If women become beneficiaries of these vehicle schemes, their repayment rate will be higher which means there will be more funds available for other projects in the future.
Problem: Describe the primary problem(s) that your innovation is addressing
Exclusion of women from benefiting economically from technology: Men constitute the dominant economic beneficiaries of diverse types of technologies as well as the innovation process in terms designing and developing the technologies. Women are always the receivers and users of the technology. This is attributable to their inability to acquire basic educational foundation required to benefit from the technology. Through this project women will be able to economically benefit from an easy basic technology, whose mastery requires only a simple learning; the ability to drive.
Women’s Poverty: Women work very hard, but mainly in economic ventures that bring in very little money, such as buying and selling food and vegetables, firewood etc. Driving a car or bus is relatively easier and brings in much more income daily. Through this project, women’s poverty will be addressed
Social norms favoring men: The innovation is also addressing the issue of social norms which limit women’s opportunities to learn, use, and benefit from technologies.
Financial and institutional constraints: Financial and institutional constraints that prevent women from using, renting, purchasing or establishing new technologies are being addressed by the innovation.
Actions: Describe the steps that you are taking to make your innovation a success. What might prevent that success?
The steps that make our innovation a success are:
Step 1: Research to determine women’s interest in becoming professional drivers and the society’s acceptance of women commercial drivers as a prelude to launching the project.
Sept 2: The project will be advertised through the mass media in order to create awareness amongst interested women
Step 3: The women identified will be interviewed individually. Final candidates will be selected on the basis of income level, level of motivation and interest in becoming commercial drivers. A minimum of fifty women will be selected on the first pilot. Each will be made to pay a registration fee of $6 to ensure their seriousness and commitment to the project
Step 4: The selected women will be trained through professional Driving Schools which the project will pay for
Step 5: Those who pass the driving test will be organized into a cooperative and trained on the effective administration of a cooperative and how to run a business. The cooperative will be registered with the appropriate state agency and linked to the various poverty alleviation schemes in the state especially the vehicle leasing programmes
Step 6: The project will continue to assist the women in managing and repaying their loans and providing other technical assistance that will help promote the cooperative
Step 7: Once this initial pilot has completed the cycle the project will be replicated in other five eastern states. After which it will be replicated nationwide through cooperation with other civil society organizations
What might prevent the above success?
1. If women are not interested in becoming commercial drivers .
2. If the women do not pass the driving test
3. If the cooperative is unable to function effectively
4. If the various poverty alleviation schemes refuse to fund the women
5. If people refuse to patronize the commercial vehicles operated by women
Results: Describe the expected results of these actions over the next three years. Please address each year separately, if possible
Year Action Expected Result
Year 1 Initiative advertised in the media in Enugu State At least 200 women identified to participate in the initiative
Research to determine women’s interest in becoming professional drivers and the society’s acceptance of women commercial drivers as a prelude to launching the project.
Research conducted and report produced
Women Identified interviewed At least 100 women selected to participate
Identified women trained At least 70 women trained and pass the driving test
Year 1
Action
Initiative advertised in the media in Enugu State
Expected Result
At least 200 women identified to participate in the initiative
Action
Research to determine women’s interest in becoming professional drivers and the society’s acceptance of women commercial drivers as a prelude to launching the project.
Expected Result
Research conducted and report produced
Action
Women Identified interviewed
Expected Result
At least 100 women selected to participate
Action
Identified women trained
Expected Result
At least 70 women trained and pass the driving test
Action
Trained women formed into cooperative
Expected Result
Cooperative formed and registration completed
Action
Training of women in cooperative administration and on how to run a business
Expected Result
At least 50 women trained in cooperative administration and how to run a business
Officials elected into executive positions of the cooperative
Action
Cooperative applies for loans
Expected Result
Cooperative receives loans
Action
Cooperative launches women operated commercial vehicles
Expected Result
Vehicles operational and making profit
Women economic activity enhanced;
Women economic advancement achieved;
Women gain access to critical resources
New opportunities created;
Productivity increases
Year 2
Action
SSDO identifies credible CSOs in the other 4 eastern states to partner with
Expected Result
4 CSOs in Ebonyi, Anambra, Imo and Abia states identified
Action
Training of identified CSOs on the model
Expected Result
Identified CSOs trained
Action
Replication of the initiative as in year one
Expected Result
Same results as expected in Year one
Year 3
Action
SSDO identifies credible CSOs in other states of Nigeria to partner with
Expected Result
One CSO identified in at least 10 other states in Nigeria
Action
Training of identified CSOs on the model
Expected Result
Identified CSOs trained
Action
Replication of the initiative as in year one and two
Expected Results
Same results as expected in Year one and two
How many people will your project serve annually?
101‐1000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$100 ‐ 1000
Does your innovation seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
If your innovation seeks to impact public policy, how?
Government policy has so far overlooked women in the leasing of vehicles for commercial purposes, because it has so far been seen as the prerogative of men. Through this initiative, government policy will be made to change and women will be included in all future poverty alleviation schemes without gender bias
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for less than a year
Does your organization have a board of directors or an advisory board?
Yes
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with businesses?
Yes
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with government?
Yes
Please tell us more about how partnerships could be critical to the success of your innovation
The innovation is a collaborative arrangement with the Administrators of Community Development Centres of benefiting communities who identifies and mobilizes women and other logistics for the project. The design, content, implementation strategy, running and management of the programme is the responsibility our organization, South Saharan Social Development Organization. We also have professional driving schools that take care of training the women on driving technology. The partnership helps in pooling of resources, ideas and experiences together for effective and efficient implantation of the programme
We would like to learn more about how your initiative is financially supported. Please explain your business plan/revenue model
SSDO has several initiatives but this particular initiative receives financial support from trustee contributions. 70% of financing the initiatives comes from this source, while the rest of the initiative finance comes from members registration and monthly contributions, income from SSDOs income making initiatives. .
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
In 2008 the Enugu State government launched a vehicle scheme were citizens leased taxis and buses at a controlled price from government to pay back over 5 years. 2,000 cars and 500 buses were given out. Subsequently over 20 states in Nigeria launched similar schemes. Not one single woman benefited because a precondition was that it had to be owner driven. You could not get the car and give to someone else to drive for you. This automatically disqualified most women as very few of those in the income bracket being targeted could drive and even then driving is considered a male profession. Realizing the huge economic potential in commercial driving this got me thinking. I realized that to overcome the male dominance of the profession and convince government to give women a chance to participate in the scheme, there had to first be women who could qualify and willing to work in the profession. This gave birth to the initiative to train women as professional commercial drivers and to organize them into cooperatives
Tell us about the person—the social innovator—behind this idea.
Ejike Ozioko, is a Development Economist with over 10 years experience in project design and management, monitoring and evaluation, public policy, cooperative development, research, training and development. Presently, the Programme Manager, South Saharan Social Development Organization (SSDO) which focuses on empowering youth, women and children socio-politically and economically. He is former student lecturer, Akwa-Ibom State College of Agriculture teaching undergraduates Economics of Cooperative Business Enterprise. Also, former Part-time lecturer, Enugu State College of Education (Technical), Enugu, teaching undergraduates micro economics, macro economics, research methodology and economics of production. A team builder having assisted many people to set up cooperative organizations, and headed as president, various types of cooperative societies. Have produced educational and development books such as Self-Employment: A panacea to Unemployment and How to start Viable Cooperative Business Enterprises. His youth entrepreneurship initiative led SSDO to winning the best entry from Nigeria country in ‘EDUCATING AFRICA 2009 Pan-African Awards for Entrepreneurship in Education.’ A Graduate of Enugu State University of Science & Technology (ESUT), with B.Sc. Cooperative Economics & Rural Development, 2004 and MBA Cooperative Economics & Rural Development, 2008.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Email from Changemakers
If through another source, please provide the information
ICRW
Does your project address any of the following barriers to women’s technology access and use?
Social norms, Economic or institutional constraints.
If you checked any of the boxes above, please explain how.
Social norms: The initiative challenges the issue of commercial vehicle operation as the exclusive of men
Economic or institutional constraints: The initiative challenges the inability of women to access funds through the various poverty schemes of the government due to women’s lack of skills, organizational structure and infrastructure for accessing loans and credit
Does your project involve women in one or more of the following stages of the technology lifecycle? Identification of the problem the technology will solve:
Market research, Technology training, Creation and maintenance of market linkages for women's economic outputs, Assessment and evaluation.
If you checked any of the boxes above, please explain how you will ensure women’s involvement in each relevant phase of the technology lifecycle.
Market Research: Research to determine women’s interest in becoming professional drivers and the society’s acceptance of women commercial drivers as a prelude to launching the project will be carried out by women volunteers of SSDO.
Technology Training: Women will be trained as professional commercial vehicle drivers
Assessment and evaluation: Women are actively involved in the monitoring and evaluation committee for the project.
If women are a focus of your project, how did this focus evolve?
The project focused on women from its conception..
Which type of women will your project reach directly?
Peri-urban, Urban, Low income.
In what ways does your project team/leadership involve women?
The core project team includes women..
Has your organization formed any new partnerships in response to this challenge? If so, with what type/s of organization/s?
Non-profit/NGO/community-based organization, Government, Women's organization.
Has your project leadership had prior experience with the following?
Working with women, Working with technologies, Working to increase women's economic empowerment through technology, Working on innovation.
 | 154 weeks ago Mohenna Sarkar said: On May 27, 2010 the judges reviewed the entries for the Changemakers Women Tools Technology: Building Opportunities and Economic Power ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 155 weeks ago Empowering Women through Commercial Taxi and Bus Driving has been chosen as a finalist in Women | Tools | Technology: Building Opportunities & Economic Power. |
| 162 weeks ago Ejike Ozioko updated this Competition Entry. |
| 162 weeks ago Ejike Ozioko submitted this idea. |
