Careem signs up nearly 1,000 Saudi women drivers

A Saudi woman registers to take part in a training program for new female drivers at Careem, a chauffeur driven car booking service, at their Saudi offices in Khobar City, some 424 kilometers east of the Saudi capital of Riyadh, on October 10, 2017. (AFP)

An employee of Careem, a chauffeur driven car booking service, talks during a training session for new female drivers, known in the company as “captains” at their Saudi offices in Khobar City, some 424 kilometers east of the Saudi capital of Riyadh, on October 10, 2017. (AFP)

An employee of Careem, a chauffeur driven car booking service, talks during a training session for new female drivers, known in the company as “captains,” at their Saudi offices in Khobar City, some 424 kilometers east of the Saudi capital of Riyadh, on October 10, 2017. (AFP)

DUBAI: The UAE’s Careem, a ride hailing application, is set to sign up around 1,000 Saudi women drivers for its expansion plan in the Kingdom, according to its co-founder, Thomson Reuters’ Zawya website reported.
“We foresee very strong growth in Saudi Arabia, both in the cities where we already have presence today and in the new cities we plan to expand to as well,” Magnus Olsson, co-founder of Careem, told Zawya in an interview.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman lifted the de-facto ban on women driving in the Kingdom in September last year, with the decree set to be implemented on June 24, 2018.
“We are very excited about this June, it is a big milestone for the country. We have already started training female captains and we hope to get up to 100,000 female captains on board within a year from June,” Olsson said.
Olsson also said that nearly 1,000 Saudi women have already signed up and are currently in training.
The push also aids Saudi women’s struggles in the job market, with 80 percent of unemployed citizens comprised of women, according to the most recent official figures.