Iraq News Now

Ride-hailing company Careem has extended its services to the

southern Iraqi city of Basra in the latest expansion for the company. It

currently operates in Baghdad and Najaf and has an ongoing pilot

project in Erbil. The service will use existing taxis throughout the city,

catering to a population of around 2.5 million.
“We

are proud to launch our services in Basra today, an important strategic

location for us and look forward to serving the people and create job

opportunities for the youth of this great city,” said Mohamed Al Hakim, the

general manager of Careem Iraq. “Within the next five years, our vision is to

serve hundreds of thousands of customers and create more than 10,000 job

opportunities in Basra.”
Basra

is Iraq’s second-largest city by population after Baghdad, where Careem

started services in January last year. It is home to Iraq’s main port and is

also where the majority of the country’s oil production takes place.
There

is no public transportation in Basra besides privately-operated minibuses that

serve dedicated routes but have no timetable or scheduled stops. Taxi

prices are currently unmetered, so Careem’s app will provide more accurate

pricing, while remaining at the same level as taxis.
In

an interview with The

National last month, Mr Al Hakim said that expanding to major

Iraqi cities and provinces would be one of Careem’s focuses in the next few

months. It is currently in a pilot phase in Erbil, the capital city of Iraqi

Kurdistan.
The

challenges of operating in the country include security concerns, low

smartphone penetration, and limitations to digital and physical infrastructure,

such as internet service interruptions, a lack of digital mapping and road

closures.
However, Careem has found ways to work around these challenges.

Mr Al Hakim said the Iraq team visits closed roads to send co-ordinates to

Google and allows customers to book by phone during internet cut-offs. Careem

has mapped 15,000 locations so far.
“Our

technology is helping create employment opportunities and providing essential

mobility for millions of people in Iraq,” said Mudassir Sheikha, chief

executive and a co-founder of Careem. “I hope our presence here will encourage

other companies to set up business in Iraq and join us in helping to rebuild

and improve the infrastructure of the nation.”
Careem,

which was bought by Uber for $3.1 billion (Dh11.39bn) in March, operates

in 98 cities across 15 countries.