Spana, a Tanzanian auto-tech software, is making car maintenance easier
With Tanzania’s Spana mobile application, car owners and companies can request auto diagnostic checks, vehicle servicing and repairs, or sign up for yearly routine maintenance for their vehicles. Spana offers a variety of reasonably priced and high-quality automotive services.
Julius Mbungo, Ebenezery Kimaro, and John Mwapinga founded the Spana app in late 2023. Among its many features, the app lets users track spending, find reputable mechanics, and get repair reminders.
Mbungo disclosed to Disrupt Africa that, in 2022, he had surveyed automobile owners, mechanics, and garage owners to find out how owners obtain auto maintenance and what obstacles they encounter when interacting with mechanics.
“We talked to more than 800 people, and the results were astonishing. Eighty per cent weren’t very happy with existing solutions, and those who were at least satisfied complained about the rip-off from some of the service providers,” he said.
Tanzania, like most Sub-Saharan African countries is a used-car dominated market, by a ratio of 90:10, where cars as old as 20-years still find their way onto the roads.
“The used cars are powered by after-market spare parts where most are fake, leading to frequent breakdowns and car owners spending four times more on maintenance. There’s also a lack of expertise and modern tools,” said Mbungo.
Spana is on a mission to provide efficient, affordable, and transparent auto repair and maintenance, combating counterfeit spare parts.
“We want to foster a vehicle maintenance culture in Tanzania, helping customers with repairs and spare part procurement along the way. We want to prolong the longevity of Tanzanians’ vehicles and keep our roads and people safe,” said Mbungo.
Though Mbungo stated that it intends to launch a fundraising round shortly, Spana is now operating solely through bootstrapping.
“Since our establishment, we have over 1,000 cars registered, 30 workshops, 180 mechanics, and our platform,” he stated.
The business now has operations in Dar es Salaam and Arusha, Tanzania, and later this year, it hopes to expand to Dodoma and Zanzibar. In addition to charging partner garages and mechanics a commission of between 10 and 30 percent, Spana also makes money from internal services, mobile mechanics, and the provision of replacement parts.
However, Mbungo stated, “We hope to add more services to the platform, like vehicle insurance and vehicle repair loans.”
