Careem, a leading ride-hailing service that provides transportation choices via a mobile app in the Mena region, has revealed its new fleet of female drivers on the historic day that women begin driving in Saudi Arabia.
The drivers - referred to as Captainahs – will begin working with Careem from today (June 24) as part of the company’s ongoing mission to simplify and improve lies in the region. This service will start working in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam in the first phase to be expanded to include all cities within a short period.
Careem CEO Mudassir Sheikha said: “We are delighted to welcome these pioneering women to Careem and in line with Careem’s commitment to create job opportunities across the wider Middle East region, 2018 will see a new focus begin on attracting women to sign up to the platform.”
Careem is creating between 60,000-to-70,000 jobs per month across all cities of operation. “We’ve set a longer-term target of having 20,000 females signed up region wide by 2020,” Mudassir Sheikha added.
Careem’s GM of Saudi Arabia, Abdulla Elyas said: “Following the announcement in Saudi Arabia in September 2017 that women would soon be allowed to drive, we opened our door to female Captains (Captainahs) and invited them to come and sign up to Careem and receive the initial training. We have been overwhelmed by the response, with some 2,000 women already having taken part in sessions from our operational, safety and technology teams.”
This year Careem set up a Women’s Female Captain Committee to tackle this issue and better understand what barriers might exist for a woman wanting to come and drive for us, and to understand what it takes for us to provide a conducive environment for them to flourish.
Abdulla Elyas noted: “Driving for a ride-hailing company provides the chance to be your own boss, earn an additional income and work your own hours, so it’s particularly geared towards the needs of working mothers.
“To date, Careem has welcomed women in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan and the UAE and registered some 2,000 women in Saudi Arabia ahead of the decree coming into effect – we are thrilled to welcome new Captainahs to our Saudi fleet.”
Currently around 70 per cent of Careem’s passengers in the Kingdom are female, and Careem has been particularly beneficial for females who did not have safe and reliable transport before the introduction of the service in Saudi Arabia. – TradeArabia News Service