Swvl’s Delayed SPAC Deal Clambers Amid IPO Dearth In African Tech

Like most startups with an interesting founding story, Swvl started from a small room with no chairs somewhere in Cairo back in 2017. 

Schoolmates turned co-founders: Mostafa Kandil, Mahmoud Nouh and Ahmed Sabbah, had initially tinkered with the idea of an app to address traffic jam chaos in the Egyptian capital. But they would eventually build Swvl; a platform for booking cheap bus trips in the city. And it thrived.

But after three years of being amongst buzz in African tech, Swvl suddenly grew quiet. Two of the co-founders left the company (leaving Kandil as the only remaining co-founder), and after the Swvl headquarters was curiously moved to Dubai following a beleaguered pan-African expansion effort, the startup’s future seemed in doubt. 

Well, until last year.

In July 2021, Swvl announced a tie-up with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) known as Queen's Gambit Growth Capital - which prides itself as the first SPAC led by women. It’s a deal aime...