Safaricom’s taxi hailing service, Little, is coming to Nigeria in 2017.
This announcement was made by Kamal Budhabhatti, CEO, Craft Silicon, speaking at a Fireside Chat at CIO 100 on Thursday evening. “We are now only operating in Kenya but we are launching in Uganda soon. Safaricom is a good partner but they may not be in every market but we have to figure out how to grow the business to other markets. Craft Silicon operates in 45 countries globally and we are going to launch in all these countries even if Safaricom is not there. We are launching in Nigeria in the first quarter of 2017.”
Since Safaricom is not present in Nigeria, it is not clear who Craft Silicon will partner with to provide this service in the country
Little, previously known as Little Cab, was launched in July 2016 by Craft Silicon and Safaricom in Kenya.
According to Budhabhatti, Little now has 1500 drivers in Kenya and does between 4,000 and 5000 trips a day.
Will the entry into Nigeria cause ripples in Uber’s waters? Possibly, as Little may want to enter into Nigeria with reduced rates. However as an incumbent, Uber is likely to reduce its rates to protect its market share.
