With its over 17 million population and highly congested roads, Uber is aiming to put to an end to the perennial traffic problems in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city.

Indeed, the competition is going to inland waterways and the sea. Gokada, a local bike-hailing startup also recently diversified to boat services. Already in talks with the Lagos state government and regulatory authorities to start Uber Boat services on Lagos’ waterways, this is not the first African country Uber would be launching its boat services in.

In 2017, Uber launched a boat service in Egypt with taxis zipping up the Nile River that dissects Cairo to bypass clogged streets. It has expanded the service to cities including Mumbai and along the Croatian coast. 

“We know the traffic is a priority and we think we can help there,” Entwistle said. “We are having fruitful good discussions with the regulators right now, it is what we are doing this week, we are meeting with partners.” Uber’s Chief Business Officer Brooks Entwistle said. 

He did not, however, give a timeline on when the service will begin

In Nigeria, the San Francisco-based company is taking the competition farther. It looking to partner with Lagos Bus company to provide ride services through its platform according to the CBO.
The transport company is in talks with regulators to start operations in Francophone Dakar and Abidjan, Entwistle said.

“Our strategy is in every country we going into we want to find local partners to help us with our business,” Entwistle said. “Partnership is core to our business.”

Uber Boat is not the first here. Gokada, a Nigerian bike-hailing startup also announced similar services earlier this month. According to an official Twitter announcement made by the startup, GBoat launched this June and will develop through to 2020.

Gokada@GokadaNG

Let the count down begin. GBoat is here, get ready to cruise to your destination without being bothered about the congestion in the city @Gboatng #Gboatexperience #Anewwaytoride2710:08 PM – Jun 11, 2019 19 people are talking about this

‘‘Fifth of the landmass of Lagos is water and it is grossly underutilized. Safety and regulation need to be sorted out, of course, but this is clearly the future, ’’ a commuter was quoted as saying.

Lagos, sub-Saharan Africa biggest city is known for its traffic congestion leaving commuters spending hours in their cars. Public transport services are scarce and unreliable. Its vast waterways provide good transport options but they are hardly used.

Uber, which faces competition from Estonian-ride hailing firm Bolt, said it would seek partnership with local players for the service. It currently has 1.3 million active riders and 36,000 drivers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The U.S-based company said its franchise in Africa is still at early stages.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.

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