Posted on :Monday , 5th June 2023

Yamaha Motor Co stated today that its group subsidiary CourieMate Co has inked a partnership agreement with Tokyo-based Wassha Co, a startup establishing enterprises in Africa, to commercialise a last-mile delivery service in Tanzania. Based on this arrangement, the two businesses are conducting real-world proof-of-concept (PoC) testing across the nation.

CourieMate, a Yamaha Motor Group subsidiary, conducts a last-mile delivery business in Uganda, and as a result of this initiative, the firm has developed the IT systems know-how and competence required to handle last-mile delivery services. Wassha is a firm that provides Energy as a Service (EaaS) through retail outlets known as kiosks.  

It has done business in Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo since its inception in 2013, and has a wide variety of skills and capabilities, including member shop administration and smartphone app payment operations.

CourieMate and Wassha have been expanding their separate companies while sharing their knowledge of logistics services and other topics learnt in Uganda. This cooperation arrangement aims to use the two firms' track records in order to swiftly develop a last-mile delivery service in Tanzania. Yamaha Motor has already invested in Wassha in 2019 and 2022.

Yamaha Motor named numerous 'New Businesses' and 'Growth Businesses' as 'Strategic Business Fields' in the new Medium-Term Management Plan (2022-2024) released in 2022. As part of its portfolio management, it "will actively allocate management resources to these businesses in order to develop them into future core businesses."

Mobility services are classified as 'New Business Fields' in the plan, and Yamaha Motor states that it 'is working to create an environment for further enriching people's lives through mobility asset management that draws on the company's motorcycle business expertise, thereby helping address societal issues such as job creation'. Yamaha Motor hopes to energise the local economy and generate opportunities for professional riders by delivering motorcycle-based logistics services in the last-mile delivery market.