Mogadishu now has its first motorcycle hailing app dubbed the ‘Go! App.’ The app was launched in May 1, 2019, with the aim of providing cut-rate and convenient transportation option in the city’s very active transport sector.
The motorcycle ride-hailing service is in the interim starting out with 20 motorcycles, with customers having the privilege to order their rides online or hail them on the street after identifying the drivers with their yellow helmet and bikes.
According to Quartz Africa, the service was launched by Gulivery, a delivery startup that provides third-party door-to-door services. The moto-taxi service makes the company the first in the Horn of Africa nation to venture into and digitize the motorcycle business. While Uber-style taxi apps like Waryaa Taxi and Dhaweeye have existed before, those firms only used cars.
As normalcy continues to return to Mogadishu after decades of war, there has also been an increase in traffic in the city. The city’s transportation system is fragmented with three-wheeled motorized tuk-tuk and hundreds of dilapidated buses servicing a fast-growing population that currently stands at almost three million people.
Navigating a city like Mogadishu can be very laborious owing to the deficient infrastructure, insufficient street addresses, the absence of reliable public transportation, and increasing urbanization that is fueling congestion. As such, motorcycle taxis, locally known as moto or boda-bodas, have grown over the last few years.
Young entrepreneurs like Go! founder Deeq Mohamed says they want to capitalize on that, moving to bring order to the transit system and also create employment opportunities.
According to Deeq, the idea for the app was in the works since last November but was finally implemented after his friend Najib almost missed his wedding in December. When the service was done, he told him, “maybe it’s time you start this moto-hailing service.”
Speaking on challenges being faced, Deeq explained he raised some money after taking a personal loan from a local bank, he also raised the money for the bikes by crowd-funding from friends whom he expects to pay in the next two years.
The founder hopes to have 50-75 motorcycles on the road by the end of the year. If all goes well after that, “We would like to expand into other Somali cities and hopefully East Africa.”
