07 Sep Kevin Blankson;Closing The Logistics Network Gap With Swoove

Kevin Blankson graduated from Ashesi University in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.  Kevin’s choice of a major was informed by his personal and deep appreciation of businesses and their pivotal influence on social and political spheres.

An encounter with a mentor who was working to scale a logistics business sparked an invested interest in the systems and processes of logistics and its fundamental role in key business operations. Thus, while at Ashesi, Kevin researched on how businesses operate in the African market and the peculiar challenges they face. As a result, he founded Swoove, a logistics network, in November 2017.

In order to get deeper insight into the logistics space and improve on its value proposition, Kevin chose to explore Ghana’s logistics and delivery space by examining the various interactions between the businesses in the space and the major players in the field during his capstone research project. Upon completing his research project, Kevin had this to say:

“Of the many challenges African businesses face, none struck me as hard as the unreliable logistics network. This is because it subtly but significantly deprives businesses of less conspicuous assets, such as focus, and attention as well as the more conspicuous assets, like time, money and other resources. This is a major issue since it affects businesses in more ways than can be quantified, especially in monetary value.” 

Kevin’s dream is to build a robust logistics network that spans the continent of Africa. He wants to solve the African logistics challenge so that businesses can have one less headache to deal with. 

Swoove equips delivery companies with the technology needed to make their logistical practices more efficient and  manageable by providing them with online tools to manage their businesses. The company further helps businesses to make their services available to other online sources of traffic like ecommerce sites, social media vendors and even to “brick and mortar” stores. Alongside Swoove’s B to B engagement, Swoove provides value directly to  customers through its mobile application and USSD code (*713*5*7#) which allows businesses and individuals to get quick price and estimates for deliveries to and from anywhere in Ghana with Swoove partners.

Kevin believes:

“Every business needs to focus on its core operations. When time and attention are diverted to non-core business operations such as the movement of goods, businesses pay the price of “misappropriated resources.” This is why Swoove is stepping in as a reliable intermediary, to handle the safe and convenient movement of goods. Think of me as “Captain Logistics”.  

The United Nations’ ninth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 9) centers on building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization and fostering innovation. By leveraging on technology to provide a reliable, cost-effective and convenient logistics network for businesses, Swoove is championing this Sustainable Development Goal.  

According to Kevin, the Ashesi Venture Accelerator (AVI), of which he is a fellow, has helped him conduct two Minimum Viable Product (MVP) testings; the first, manual, and the second, automated. In addition, the AVI has granted him the guidance needed to develop a business model. 

Since inception, Swoove has equipped local delivery agencies with tech at very affordable prices to help improve and bring their operations into the digital age. In the next few years, Swoove aspires to expand operations to five more African countries. We at the AVI, have no doubt that Swoove will accomplish this and more.

To find out more about Kevin’s work with Swoove, click:  https://www.swoove.delivery/