YEA Partners Shatta Wale’s SHAXI to Support 2,000 Drivers, Starting off with 150 EVs

The Youth Employment Agency (YEA) and home-grown ride-hailing platform SHAXI have agreed on a three-pronged partnership aimed at creating sustainable jobs for young Ghanaians and boosting the adoption of electric vehicles in urban transport.

YEA Chief Executive Malik Basintale announced that the Agency’s initial focus will be placing drivers with an incoming fleet of 150 electric vehicles, to which he has instructed to be given out for registration as SHAXI vehicles.

“I have instructed my team that all those 150 vehicles should be first registered on SHAXI before we get drivers out there for them,” he said.
Beyond matching vehicles to drivers, YEA will soon launch a digital hub designed to link job seekers with employers across sectors. “Once that is created, we’ll be able to pass some of these drivers that will be in search of vehicles through our Employment Buoy,” Basintale explained, noting that the platform will roll out in the coming weeks.

To encourage participation from both car owners and drivers, the Agency will provide monthly stipends and fuel coupons. For the first 2,000 car owners who register on SHAXI each month, we will support the driver with 500 cedis worth of fuel coupons every month for the next six months.

Demonstrating personal commitment, Basintale will serve as a YEA-SHAXI brand ambassador. “As Malik Basintale and the platoon commander of the 5k men, I will make myself a brand ambassador. We would hype it; we would get people to understand the credentials,” he stated, pledging to leverage his platform to drive awareness.

Basintale further highlighted SHAXI’s cost-effective, commission-free model as a competitive edge over foreign-owned services. “Other services… would usually take a huge commission, but SHAXI is free of charge for the Ghanaian people. You just have to subscribe with something small and then you don’t pay anything,” he said, adding that local ownership by a high-profile Ghanaian artist strengthens the service’s appeal.

Launched in 2021 by dancehall star Charles Nii Armah, known on stage as Shatta Wale, SHAXI has positioned itself as a home-grown alternative in Ghana‘s growing ride-hailing market. The YEA collaboration aligns with government efforts to tackle youth unemployment, which stood at 13.2 percent in 2023, and to accelerate the transition to cleaner transport solutions. By combining digital job matching, electric vehicles, and fuel support, the partnership aims to create over 2,000 new driver positions and inject fresh momentum into Ghana’s green economy.

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