The globally acclaimed Spain-headquartered on-demand delivery platform Glovo has concluded plans to commence business in Nigeria soonest. The Spanish unicorn which already operates in 200 cities across the world refers to itself as an “anything” delivery app that delivers whatever you need, from food to your house keys, or even a drug prescription. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Glovo had announced plans to expand to many African countries including Nigeria. But the pandemic forced them to put the plans on hold. But with recent developments, it appears the firm is ready to roll out services in Nigeria as it has started advertising for positions.
According to the company’s manager for Sub-Saharan Africa, William Benthall “in terms of expansion, we just launched Ghana last week, and we are in Cote d’Ivoire, plus two East African markets and Morocco. We also plan to expand to Tunisia.” Glovo is currently operational in 9 African countries. However, as of 2020, its main competitor, Jumia Food was present in 9 African countries, including Nigeria. Also, while it’s yet unknown which Nigerian cities Glovo will be present in, JumiaFood already operates in Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, and Port Harcourt, considered to be the country’s major cities.
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The pandemic has accelerated the growth of the food delivery businesses in Nigeria; as the lockdown disrupted the usual offline channels, and has gotten people used to the convenience of placing online orders. 2021 appears to be the year more entrants come into the market, especially as data shows that revenue in the online food delivery segment in Nigeria is projected to reach US$552m in 2021, with $340m coming from the restaurant-to-customer sub-segment.
In 2020, the Lagos State government banned motorcycles and tricycles in most parts of the state. This ban affected bike-hailing companies like MAX and GoKada. However, the ban did not tamper too much with dispatch and logistics companies, which led to GoKada launching a food delivery platform known as Chop. But the ban shows how the fickle nature of the regulatory environment affects business growth, particularly in this case for delivery companies.
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Analysts say that Glovo must have considered these pertinent factors, and their potential launch in Nigeria is a win for consumers who are always looking for more options. Consumers will now have a wider range to choose from depending on which platform meets their demands for safety, lower delivery prices, timeliness, and so on.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry