A loan helped to provide quality jobs, health insurance, and productive asset ownership to Malian youth moto-taxi drivers.


Teliman's story

Like many cities globally, Bamako, Mali’s population of 2.3 million is growing rapidly. Its road network and public transport is being put under increased pressure. Moto-taxis have become popular, but the industry is informal, unsafe, and chaotic. Passengers are often subjected to minimal safety standards, poor drivers, and low quality bikes. Drivers face high costs, poor equipment, no financing and no insurance.

Teliman, a social enterprise founded by Malian entrepreneurs and engineers Hawa Traore and Abdoulaye Maiga, solves this problem by offering the first on-demand moto-taxi service in Bamako to connect urban commuters with professional drivers that are trained, equipped with helmets, providing financing, and fully health insured. Teliman recruits and trains drivers creating a formalized workforce of franchisee drivers through a lease-to-own model. Drivers acquire quality and low-fuel consumption bikes after a maximum of two years while working for Teliman.

Teliman has created nearly 200 quality jobs for drivers and unlocked over $650,000 in income for their employees. The company wants to expand to other West African markets and onboard 400 new drivers by the end of 2021.

This loan of $50,000 provides flexible working capital to onboard new drivers and weather disruptions caused by COVID-19. It is Teliman’s first loan through Kiva’s Labs: Social Enterprises program.


This loan is special because:

This woman-founded, Malian start-up has great potential to scale and enable asset ownership and job security in West Africa.



Loan details


Lenders and lending teams




Loan details