Female rickshaw drivers in Sierra Leone rise above stigma to earn a living and empower women

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — As the late afternoon sun settles over Freetown’s main transit park, Hawa Mansaray pulls up her motorized three-wheeled vehicle and steps away for a break and to pray.

Mansaray is one of a small but growing number of women entering a male-dominated commercial transport sector in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown. The auto-rickshaws, known locally as kekeh, are an essential means of transport and until recently were almost exclusively driven by men.

“I have done different jobs since I came to Freetown but kekeh has done more for me,” said the 27-year-old single mother of one.

The rickshaws have become increasingly popular in Sierra Leone, filling the gaps in a strained public transport system as the West African country struggles to recover from its 1991-2002 civil war.

Freetown’s population has grown to more than 1.5 million, according to city estimates — roughly three times the size it was when much of its infrastructure was planned and built. Public transport systems have struggled to keep up, creating demand for commercial motorcycles and auto-rickshaws.

Although the rickshaws are usually rickety, run at minimal speed, and are considered less safe due to the maximum exposure that comes with how they’re built, commuters still prefer them because they’re easily accessible and offer maximum ventilation and relative comfort.

As more people turn to the rickshaws to earn a living, it’s also become a symbol of what women are capable of.

In the city, however, women are still “seen as people not adequate to do certain types of jobs,” said Marfoh Mariama Samai, a women’s rights advocate with Plan International Sierra Leone.

“So when a young woman ventures into a certain type of job, they are stigmatized,” she says of the female drivers.

Sierra Leone has one of the lowest levels of access to and availability of financial services in Africa, making it harder for groups such as women and rural residents to recover from economic shocks.

As a result, many women are confined to petty trading that offers little stability and makes them rely heavily on their husbands, said Samai.

“When the man gives you the money, he makes all the decisions,” she said of the patriarchal norms still in place in parts of Sierra Leone. “More young women should be encouraged to get into the transport sector.”

Mansaray knows the challenges of financial dependence firsthand. Originally from Kailahun District, where Sierra Leone’s civil war began, she was born at the height of the conflict, and had to drop out of school at the primary level.

As an adult, she turned to running small businesses to make ends meet for herself and her baby, after separating from her husband.

Learning to drive rickshaws for a living was initially not in her plans, but she took interest in it and paid to be trained after seeing women like her excelling in the business.

Mansaray now works under a company that requires her to make daily returns of 350 leones ($14), earning an average daily wage of 175 leones ($7), enough to cater to her family and considered high income for many in the country.

“I will advise my fellow women who aren’t employed to come into the game,” she adds.

Alimatu Kamara, another female rickshaw driver, can relate to Mansaray’s experience. She had been unemployed for years before deciding to venture into the business.

It’s been a great ride ever since, Kamara said, but added that a major challenge for her remains aggressive behavior from male riders, a common complaint among female drivers alongside safety concerns at night.

“Some women can panic,” she said. “It takes mind and determination to continue.”

Despite the difficulties, she plans to expand and purchase more rickshaws.

“We can’t just sit, waiting for office jobs. With jobs like kekeh, you can even make more money,” Kamara said.

The Sierra Leone Kekeh Riders Union has more than 1,000 registered members in western Freetown, but only about 20 are women, a number the union's district chairman, Mustapha Thoronka, said has improved.

Thoronka said he supports efforts to train and assist female drivers, including advocating for loans for them.

“Whatever men can do, women can do better,” Thoronka said, hoping that through the business “they can support themselves and their families without relying on men.”

Thoronka is urging the government to provide more support, noting that it’s capital intensive, making it more difficult for women to get involved.

Mariama Barrie, a commuter, said she prefers female drivers.

“They are more careful than the men,” she said. For her, the growing presence of women in the kekeh sector sends a message particularly “to women who sit and wait to be spoon fed.”

“If you know how to ride, take kekeh … rather than sitting and waiting for handouts,” she said.

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Halimatu Kamara, a rickshaw driver poses for a portrait in Freetown, Sierra Leone, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdul Hamid Kanu)

Halimatu Kamara, a rickshaw driver poses for a portrait in Freetown, Sierra Leone, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdul Hamid Kanu)

Commercial rickshaws drivers wait in line at a transport station in Freetown, Sierra Leone, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdul Hamid Kanu)

Hawa Mansaray transports a passenger in Freetown, Sierra Leone, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdul Hamid Kanu)

Hawa Mansaray, a rickshaw driver waits in line in Freetown, Sierra Leone, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdul Hamid Kanu)

A U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance is headed to Pakistan for talks with Iranian officials aimed at shoring up a shaky ceasefire and paving the way for a permanent end to the fighting. It marks the first such meeting since the war began more than a month ago.

The ceasefire brokered by Pakistan still faces hurdles in the talks beginning Saturday, as Israel and Hezbollah militants have been trading fire along the border of southern Lebanon and Iran has set conditions before negotiations can begin.

The Iranian delegation arrived early Saturday in Islamabad, led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who said on X that discussions will only take place if there is an Israeli ceasefire in Lebanon the release of blocked Iranian assets.

Hours earlier, President Donald Trump wished Vance good luck. “We’ll find out what’s going on. They’re militarily defeated.”

In Islamabad, the streets of a normally bustling capital were deserted Saturday as security forces sealed roads ahead of the talks.

Here is the latest:

The Iranian delegation is scheduled to meet with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at noon Saturday, according to the Tasnim news agency, which is close to the powerful Revolutionary Guard.

Iran’s negotiating team, chaired by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and includes Foreign Minister Abbas Arghchi, met late Friday with Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir.

The meetings come ahead of high-stakes talks between Iran and the U.S. in Islamabad which aim at reaching a permanent end of the war in the Middle East.

Pakistan’s government has set up a state-of-the-art media center to facilitate Pakistani and foreign journalists covering the talks between the United States and Iran, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said.

Tarar told reporters the facility at the Jinnah Convention Center offers high-speed internet and a range of free services to support media coverage. Shuttle services have been arranged to transport journalists between the media center and a hotel in the city’s main shopping mall.

Pakistan has announced visa-on-arrival for journalists and official delegations traveling from the United States and Iran for the talks, which have been dubbed the “Islamabad talks.”

Inside the media center, rows of workstations equipped with laptops and charging points allow reporters to file stories. Large screens broadcast major domestic and international television channels. The facility also has designated areas for live stand-ups, press briefings and interviews.

The streets of Pakistan’s normally bustling capital were deserted Saturday as security forces sealed roads ahead of talks between high-level officials from Iran and the U.S. to end their nearly six-week war. Pakistani authorities urged Islamabad residents to stay inside, leading the city to look like it was under curfew.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance is leading the American delegation, which was expected to arrive before noon.

Iranian negotiators, headed by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, arrived late Friday.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif the conflict was entering a “difficult phase” as the sides try to shift from a temporary pause in fighting to a more lasting settlement. He said they were at a “make-or-break” moment.

People residing in an underground shelter pack up their belongings as they prepare to leave after the announcement of a two-week ceasefire agreement between Iran and the US, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Men inspect the damage to their home destroyed in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A Lebanese civil defense worker looks upward near the site of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Displaced families extend their hands while waiting for donated food beside the tents they use as shelters after fleeing Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A Lebanese civil defense worker, right, stands with a resident at the site of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)