// mobility_data_infrastructure
Dar es Salaam · Tanzania mkato.io
infrastructure, overview, v0.1
Building the data backbone for how Africa's cities move.
Mkato Technologies is a mobility data infrastructure company building the foundational layer for how Africa's cities move. Informal transit networks already carry the majority of urban passengers, operating as the real backbone of mobility across fast-growing cities. These systems are dynamic and demand-driven, shaped in real time by road conditions and operator behaviour rather than fixed routes or schedules.
While parts of this network have been mapped and some datasets exist, the underlying system remains fragmented, inconsistently updated, and largely disconnected from formal planning and digital platforms.
Mkato solves this by constructing a unified, continuously updated data backbone that reflects real-world movement at scale. By systematically capturing routes, boarding points, and flow patterns, Mkato converts fragmented mobility signals into a structured, machine-readable layer. This transforms informal transit into usable infrastructure, powering better planning, smarter logistics, and seamless integration across the urban mobility ecosystem.
// early_access
Be first to know when we launch.
Mkato is in active development in Dar es Salaam.
Drop your email and we will reach out when the app is ready, or when we need early testers on the ground.
Dar es Salaam is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. Its road infrastructure has not kept pace. Daladalas, the minibuses that carry over 80% of all motorized trips, navigate a network that exists entirely outside any digital system. No operator, planner, or passenger has data on where routes run, how long they take, or where congestion concentrates. The city moves on instinct rather than information.
3+h
Average daily commute time for Dar es Salaam workers
80%
Of all motorized trips made on informal daladala transit
0
Informal routes mapped on any digital platform, anywhere
2–5%
Of urban GDP lost to traffic congestion across African cities annually
$5B+
Lost every year across Africa's cities to traffic, in productivity, fuel, and stolen time
African cities lose over $5 billion every year to traffic congestion, in wasted fuel, lost working hours, and supply chain delays. The absence of mobility data makes every dollar of that loss structurally invisible and impossible to address.
A worker spending 3 hours daily in transit loses over 700 hours per year, nearly 90 working days, to a commute system no digital tool currently supports.
Daladala operators have no route data, no demand forecasting, and no digital dispatch. Every operational decision is made from memory, with no feedback loop and no baseline to improve from.
City planners and development banks cannot model transit demand where no transit data exists. Infrastructure investment decisions worth billions are made in an information vacuum.
What We Are Building
02
Mkato is building the ground-truth mobility data layer for Africa's informal cities, starting in Dar es Salaam. We capture, structure, and continuously update the data that defines how these cities actually move: informal routes, stop locations, transit frequency, and corridor flow patterns. Data that has never existed in structured form, anywhere.
The infrastructure is built on a simple principle: the people who move through these cities every day are the data source. A Swahili-first, offline-capable navigation app generates real-world mobility data at street level. That data feeds a continuously updated dataset. The dataset becomes infrastructure, for transport operators, city planners, enterprise logistics, and urban intelligence platforms.
01: route_intelligence
Informal Route Network
Every daladala and shared transit corridor mapped, verified, and updated continuously from ground-level usage data.
02: stop_data
Boarding & Alighting Points
Real-world stop locations captured and maintained, not estimated, not inferred. Documented from actual movement.
03: flow_patterns
Movement & Frequency Data
Corridor density, peak period analysis, and transit frequency across the city's informal network over time.
04: built_for_here
Offline-First. Swahili-First.
Designed for low-connectivity environments and local language use. Built for the infrastructure conditions that actually exist.
The Product
03
The app is how people navigate. The data is what we are really building.
9:41
▲▲▲WiFi▓▓
◈ MKATO
⌕ Tafuta njia yako...
D-13 · Kariakoo → Mwenge
5 vituo · ~22 dak ·
Bila intaneti ✓
Live Route Map
All active daladala routes rendered in real time. Tap any line to see its stops, timing, and connections.
9:41
▲▲▲WiFi▓▓
← RudiD-13 · Vituo
Bila intanetiKiswahili~22 dakTZS 500
Kariakoo Soko Kuu
Kituo cha kuanza
Mchikichini
~6 dak
Ubungo Mwisho ← Uko hapa
~12 dak · Ungana na D-22
Morocco
~17 dak
Mwenge
Kituo cha mwisho · ~22 dak
Stop-by-Stop Detail
Every stop verified on the ground. Connection points, transfer options, and timing, all in Swahili, all offline.
9:41
▲▲▲WiFi▓▓
◈ Data Coverage · DSM
147
Njia zilizoorodheshwa
1,240
Vituo vilivyothibitishwa
99%
Inapatikana bila intaneti
🌍 Kiswahili · English — DSM Pilot
Coverage Dashboard
A live view of the data being built. Routes mapped, stops confirmed, and network growth updated in real time.
9:41
▲▲▲▓▓
◈ Plan Journey
AKariakoo
BMwenge...
Best Route Found
D-13 · 22 min · Offline ✓
Journey Planner
Enter origin and destination. Mkato finds the best informal route, fare, and estimated time, fully offline.
9:41
▲▲▲▓▓
◉ Nearby Stops
⌕Search stops near you...
Mchikichini · 120m
D-13, D-07 · Inapatikana
Kariakoo Soko · 340m
D-13, D-22, D-04
Bibi Titi · 520m
D-09, D-11
Nearby Stops
Instantly shows all boarding points within walking distance, with active routes at each stop.
9:41
▲▲▲▓▓
◈ Contribute Data
Help map Dar es Salaam. Every report improves the network.
Report New Stop
Tap to pin a boarding point not yet on the map
Confirm Route
Travelled D-13 today? Confirm it is active
Flag Change
Report a route change or new terminal point
Contributor Mode
Every Mkato user can report stops, confirm routes, and flag changes, keeping the data layer live and accurate.
Dira B2B data platform. Enterprise and institutional.
1 city
Dar es Salaam, where we prove it
Replicable
Same methodology, every city we enter
The continent
The only addressable market that matters
Who We Build For
05
Mkato is built for the millions of people who navigate African cities every day without a single digital tool that understands how their city actually moves. But the infrastructure we are building serves a broader set of stakeholders.
01: daily_commuters
Urban Commuters
Workers, students, and residents who rely on daladalas, shared taxis, and informal minibuses to navigate Dar es Salaam every day, with no app, no map, and no reliable information on routes or stops.
02: transit_operators
Daladala Operators
Individual vehicle owners and operator cooperatives who currently have no visibility into demand patterns, no digital dispatch, and no data to help them make better operational decisions.
03: city_planners
City Planners & Government
Municipal authorities and transport agencies that need accurate, current data on how informal transit networks operate in order to plan infrastructure, allocate resources, and improve urban mobility policy.
04: enterprise
Enterprise & Institutions
Logistics companies, development banks, insurers, retailers, and research institutions that require structured mobility data to make decisions about operations, investment, and infrastructure in African cities.
How It Works
06
Mkato is a two-sided system. The consumer app generates the data. The data becomes infrastructure. The infrastructure powers everything else.
🗺️
Step 01 · collect
Commuters Navigate. Data Is Generated.
Every journey taken through the Mkato App contributes verified route, stop, and flow data back into the network. Passive, continuous, at scale — every user makes the map more accurate for the next.
⚙️
Step 02 · structure
Raw Data Becomes Structured Intelligence.
Mobility signals are validated, cleaned, and structured into standardised datasets — route geometries, stop coordinates, frequency patterns, and corridor flow data — continuously updated as usage grows.
📡
Step 03 · distribute
Enterprise Clients Access the Data Layer.
Through Dira, enterprises, city governments, logistics operators, and development institutions access this structured mobility data via a clean REST API — the first of its kind for African informal transit.
🌍
Step 04 · expand
One City Proves It. Every City Benefits.
The methodology is designed to replicate. Starting in Dar es Salaam, every city Mkato enters adds to the dataset. The data network effect grows with every user, every route, and every city.
Why Mkato
07
📍
◈ · ground_truth
Built From the Street Up
Every route, stop, and flow pattern in Mkato is collected from real usage — not inferred from satellite imagery or adapted from foreign transit models. When Mkato says a route exists, it exists.
📶
⊞ · offline_first
Works Without the Internet
Designed for the connectivity conditions that actually exist in Dar es Salaam. The app works fully offline — route data, stop locations, and navigation all available without a data connection.
🗣️
◎ · swahili_first
In the Language People Actually Use
Mkato is built in Swahili first. Every interface, every instruction, every route name. Navigation for African commuters, in the language of African commuters — not an English app translated as an afterthought.
🔄
⟳ · living_data
A Map That Stays Current
Informal networks change. Routes shift, stops move, new services launch. Mkato's data layer updates continuously from live usage — unlike static maps that become outdated the moment they are published.
Why This Is Infrastructure
08
🏗️
position · not a feature
Mkato Builds the Database
Navigation apps navigate what already exists in a database. Mkato builds the database. The informal transit networks we are mapping are not missing from existing platforms because those platforms failed to include them. They are missing because the underlying data was never collected. Every city we enter starts from zero. Every route we map is net new to the world's data supply.
📈
structural · compounding advantage
Stronger With Every City. Harder to Replicate Over Time.
That is not a product feature. It is a structural position, one that gets stronger the more cities we are in, and harder to replicate the longer we operate.
// join_the_waitlist
Still here? You should be on the list.
Mkato launches in Dar es Salaam.
Register now and be among the first to access the app, join ground-level testing, or explore the Dira data platform.
