Motorbike taxi apps jostle for trade on Lagos roads
LAGOS: Banker Yemi Adegbola used to leave his home in Lagos before 4am each day, but would still arrive late to work because of the notorious traffic in Nigeria’s biggest city. Now he says he has “dumped his car” for one of a rat of new motorbike ride hailing apps that developers hope can speed up journeys for the roughly 20 million residents of the economic capital. For years the jams — known locally as “go-slows” — have been a nightmare for Lagosians. Potholed roads, reckless driving and too many cars have helped turn the daily commute into an ordeal that oten lasts for hours.
People miss appointments and business suffers as one of Africa’s largest markets grinds to a standstill.
Sensing an opportunity, a growing number of ride hailing services have stepped into the chaos — bringing order to the “okada” motorbike taxis that have long whizzed perilously around Lagos. First to launch was gok ada in 2018, pioneering a nu ber-style system for two-wheeled transport that had already been successfully rolled out by firms elsewhere. It has since been followed by other operators like maxok ada and Oride — and the competitors are looking to overtake each other with beter technology, lower prices and more services.
Before these startups, Lagosians in a hurry had to put their faith in the army of unregulated “okada” riders weaving hazardously through the traffic. Oten untrained and unfamiliar with the city, they were seen as dangerous and blamed by the police for a rise in pety crime. The authorities clamped down and in 2012 banned the 100cc bikes from 475 roads and highways around the city. This year some 3,000 motorcycles were impounded and destroyed for violating the restrictions, police said. The ride hailing apps provide a striking difference. Their drivers are decked out in bibs and helmets in company colours, carry safety kits with them and have more powerful bikes that can make longer trips. Passengers are charged an Uber-style tariff, and no longer have to resort to haggling each time they hail a ride.
A traditional “okada” ride can cost between 50 naira (14 US cents, 12 euro centimes) and several hundred naira — depending on the distance, area and the mood of the driver. New entrant Oride kick-started its services in May and is looking to tap into the abundant opportunities with 3,000 trained drivers. The firm — part of the Opay online payment service — is looking to expand operations as part of a $50 million push and already works in six other cities in Nigeria. “It’s an open market in which everybody has something to offer. There’s so much to cover in Nigeria,” Iniabasi Akpan, Opay country manager, told AFP. Unlike other players which allow users to hail a ride both online or on the streets, passengers can only pay via the Opay app, developed by Norway’s Opera Sotware.
The firm has comprehensive insurance that covers both riders and passengers and secure sit drivers with asset financing contracts that sees them pay back the cost of their new bikes in 18 months.
Overall the two-wheeler taxi market is forecast to reach $9 billion worldwide by 2021, according to India-based Tech Sci. But it has not been all smooth riding since the apps launched. Accidents remain unavoidable in the confusion of Nigeria’s roads, online tools have faltered, drivers have looked to inflate fares and corrupt officials still prey on roadusers. Gokada in May announced over $5 million in new funding and said it hoped to branch out into other forms of transport and eventually push outside Nigeria. But last month the firm shut down for two weeks ater its chief executive Fahim Saleh encountered some of the navigational problems when a short journey ended up taking much longer. The driver he ordered took 15 minutes to pick him up, admited he wasn’t using GPS and then set off on a circuitous route to the destination. “How could I be the CEO of Gokada, the company that pioneered motorcycle ride-hailing in Nigeria and be experiencing this?” Saleh wrote in an online post.
“I told the pilot to pull over to the side of the road, I would hop over the median and wait for an Uber. ‘This is what it has come to,’ I thought.” The disappointment chimed with the gripes of some Nigerian users who have complained of navigation problems while using the various apps and accuse drivers of deliberately taking longer routes to increase fares. Firms have sought ways around the issues. Gokada relaunched its 2.0 service with a fresh fleet of bikes ater giving drivers more training and incorporating features like helmets with inbuilt mobile headsets. Oride has a monitoring unit set up to track its drivers.