Kenya’s transport economy is powered by boda boda riders and ride-hailing drivers who spend long days on the road with little protection against accidents, illness, or financial shocks. Most lack insurance or any form of social safety net, leaving families vulnerable when misfortune strikes. This week, Safaricom, the country’s largest telco, unveiled a product that seeks to change that reality bundles that integrate data, airtime, insurance, and fuel discounts.

The move has immediate significance for drivers, but it also signals an important shift for African businesses: the convergence of telecoms, fintech, and essential services into bundled solutions targeting the continent’s vast informal economy.

A New Model for Service Bundling

Safaricom’s new offering is not a standalone telco product. It brings together multiple players:

• Safaricom provides connectivity and scale.

• Turaco, an insurance start-up in Nairobi, delivers health and life coverage through its Tuunza Mapato plan.

• Shell offers fuel discounts at the pump.

• Ride-hailing platforms benefit from more active and committed drivers.

This bundling approach ensures that value is not fragmented. Instead of each company pushing its service independently, the ecosystem creates a single, affordable product designed for workers who typically juggle multiple expenses with limited income.

The Core: Insurance for the Informal Economy

At the heart of the package is insurance, a product often considered out of reach for many in Africa’s informal sectors. With weekly or monthly premiums, riders and drivers gain hospital cash payouts and funeral support.

• Boda boda riders can spend as little as KES 50 ($0.38) daily for airtime and data, or KES 1,000 ($7.70) monthly for 8GB of data, airtime credit, and insurance.

• Drivers have access to a KES 2,000 ($15.40) monthly plan with insurance, 25GB of data, and KES 300 in airtime.

This is more than a telecom produc,t it’s an entry point into financial protection for millions who operate outside traditional employment structures.

The Business Implications for Africa

1. Creating Demand for Insurance in Low-Income Markets

Africa’s insurance penetration remains below 3% in most countries. By embedding insurance into everyday expenses like airtime and data, Safaricom lowers barriers to entry and normalizes coverage. For insurers, this model could open up millions of micro-policies across the continent.

2. Driving Ecosystem Partnerships

This move highlights the importance of partnerships across industries. Telcos, insurers, energy companies, and digital platforms can co-create products that address multiple pain points for consumers. For African businesses, it suggests that future competitiveness may rely less on operating in silos and more on integrated value chains.

3. Enhancing Worker Productivity and Retention

For ride-hailing platforms and logistics firms, insured drivers with reliable connectivity are more likely to stay active. This reduces churn, increases driver loyalty, and ensures more consistent supply for digital platforms.

4. Testing Affordability Models

The challenge remains affordability. With boda boda riders earning between KES 500–1,500 ($3.85–$11.50) daily, a KES 1,000–2,000 monthly plan requires trade-offs. Businesses in Africa must continue experimenting with daily or pay-as-you-go micro-payments, which align better with irregular incomes in the informal economy.

5. Replicable Across Other Sectors

What Safaricom is piloting with drivers can be replicated across other informal professions—market traders, artisans, small-scale farmers. Bundled services could expand access to healthcare, credit, or even pensions, using telcos as the distribution backbone.

A Step Toward Inclusive Business Models

Kenya has more than 2.4 million motorcycles and tens of thousands of ride-hailing drivers, generating close to KES 1 billion ($7.7 million) daily in income. Yet most of these workers remain outside formal financial and social protection systems. Safaricom’s bundles do not solve deeper issues like low pay, road safety, or high fuel costs, but they represent a practical step toward more inclusive business models in Africa.

For African businesses, the message is clear: the future of growth lies not only in targeting the middle class, but in designing affordable, bundled solutions for the millions operating at the edges of formality. By meeting people where they are on their phones, on the road, and in daily hustles companies can unlock both profit and social impact.