Kenya Bus Service Management Ltd
Gateway Insurance Company Ltd Gateway Insurance Company Ltd is a key player in the Kenyan insurance industry, especially among the indigenous insurance companies, having started operations in 1982. Gateway is committed to service and has expanded to 12 different towns in Kenya. We believe in quality customer service, honesty and integrity, reliability and fair play, professionalism and hard work, recognition and respect, and finally being a responsible corporate citizen. We focus on developing innovative products for those with incomes at the bottom of the wealth pyramid. We are proud to be associated with Kenya Bus Service Management Ltd. Their level of management gives us confidence when providing insurance cover to the vehicles under their portfolio.
operate in the Central Business District of Nairobi and could travel along certain routes. “Today we have grown to run 152 franchises which own up to seven buses each and in total we have 292 buses that operate under our brand,” he continues. The company has encountered many challenges concerning the lack of regulations when it comes to enforcing the brand. “The laws in Kenya on infringement are very weak,” says Mukabanah. “Even so, although many of the vehicles are small, we have a very visible household brand and look forward to the government legislation on an Integrated Transport Policy, which will encourage grouping and franchising.” Aside from the operating model, another big difference between Kenya Bus Service Management and other transport providers is the age of its fleet. Mukabanah says that his company owns fleet assets totalling in the region of 800 million Kenyan shillings (US$10 million) and
“Today we have grown to run 152 franchises which own up to seven buses each and in total we have 292 buses that operate under our brand” providers. “Issues like congestion, accidents and pollution all regularly occur, while the road surfaces are in many places very poor and riddled with potholes; but there are also problems with cartels who control certain areas, making some routes inaccessible. There are also gangsters who extort money from bus companies.” Given the extent of the problems facing bus companies in Nairobi, it is heartening to learn that Kenya Bus Service Management is making good inroads into changing the model of transport in the capital. Today, the company transports around 2.9 million passengers a month. One of the first things Mukabanah did in mid 2006 was to approach local bus companies to join his enterprise as franchises. “I saw that to operate in this situation, one needed an individual operator to apply some degree of micro management with standards that were acknowledged within a brand. I had a small fleet of vehicles and invited small companies to become a part of our enterprise. Although there was initially a lot of rejection, this changed when businesses learned that I had obtained a license to
the average age of a bus within his company’s business is three years (although these are owned by the individual franchisees, including some who only offer services at weekends). Other operators, meanwhile, purchase much older vehicles from countries like Japan and then adapt them to Kenyan needs. Currently Kenya Bus Service Management receives around 40 to 50 buses each year. The next phase of the company’s plan is to create value through associations with other businesses like fuel suppliers. This is especially important, says Mukabanah, as fuel constitutes 40 to 50 per cent of operation costs and has increased by up to 20 per cent over the last couple of months. Other partnerships could include bus suppliers and insurance providers. Maintenance remains an issue, with the vehicles needing durable chassis to drive over the terrain; although Mukabanah feels that the Kenyan government has done a lot to improve the condition of roads in Nairobi over the last two years. The standard of drivers, he says, is more of a problem, so another exciting initiative that