With an estimated population of 200 million, transportation has been one of major issues affecting the growing cities in Nigeria. Cities like Lagos have an inadequate & poorly developed public transportation system and this has provided the opportunity for two wheeled transportation to thrive.
In as much as this two wheeled vehicles otherwise known as “Okadas” abound in Lagos, they continue a huge nuisance in the city. They are known for the recklessness and disobedience to traffic laws. For instance, they do not obey traffic lights. They believe the traffic lights are meant for cars not bikes.
To understand the notoriety of the Okada riders, there are hospital wards dedicated to the “Okada” riders in the National Orthopaedic Hospital in Igbobi, Lagos. It is filled with riders and passengers who have had the misfortune of engaging their services.
In this seeming chaos, some startups have emerged and tried to bring some sanity and structure into this business since there is a huge gap in the transportation of people around the big cities in the country. Growing population, increasing demand for motorcycle taxis, and inadequate & poorly developed public transportation system is expected to drive two-wheeler market.
According to TechSci Research report, “Africa Two Wheeler Market By Vehicle Type, By Country, Competition Forecast & Opportunities, 2011 – 2021”, the two-wheeler market in Africa is forecast to cross US$ 9 billion by 2021. The report points out South Africa, Nigeria and Tanzania as the largest two-wheeler markets in Africa.
Major players currently operating in Nigeria
The major players that have arisen to take advantage of this huge opportunity are as follows:
- Gokada
- Max.ng
- Oride
- Safeboda
Gokada
Founded in 2018, major investors and partners include Rise Capital, Adventure Capital, IC Global Partners and First MidWest Group. The current CEO is Fahim Saleh — a Bangladeshi entrepreneur who previously founded and exited Pathao, a motorcycle, bicycle and car transportation company. It recently secured US$5.3 million and brought on board one of the co-founders of Jobberman, Ayodeji Adewunmi as co-CEO.
Current service includes motorcycle taxi but it has recently launched GBoat, a boat hailing service in conjunction with Lagos boats.
Max.ng
Co-founded in 2015 by MIT Sloan alumns Adetayo Bamiduro and Chinedu Azodoh, Max.ng provides motorcycle taxi and delivery services for individuals and businesses. MAX has since completed over 1 million trips and is one of the largest delivery partners in West Africa for Jumia. Max.ng total funding to date is $9 million and has Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Zrosk Investment Management, Alitheia Capital, Novastar Ventures and Yamaha as investors and partners.
Oride
Launched this year, ORide is a motorbike-hailing service launched by Opera Software AS, developer of mobile web browser Opera Mini. ORide is being touted as a service on Opay, the company’s payment app. Opay was launched as a product in Nigeria in August 2018. It is reported that the company has access to a war chest of $40 million for products in Opay.
SafeBoda
Founded by Ricky Thomson, Maxime Dieudonne and Alastair Sussock, SafeBoda started in 2014 in Uganda. Investors and Partners include Allianz, GoJek, Global Innovation Fund. It has raised $1.3 million thus far and announced that it is opening very soon in Nigeria with the appointment of ex-Andelan Babajide Duroshola as its Country Manager. Since it is the newest member in Nigeria, we would need to let it operate in Nigeria for sometime to know its strategic differentiating competence for competition.
All of these players basically provide the same service i.e. the use of an app to secure customers. However two of the players – Gokada and Max.ng – provide asset financing opportunities for their drivers so that riders can acquire the branded motorcycles and remit a fixed amount daily until the bike is paid off.
All of the companies promote safety as an alternative to the average Okada rider.
So to separate itself from the rest of the pack, a company would need to expand rapidly without compromising on safety standards and customer service.
These may the players for now but it is not unexpected that more players will join the race in the near future.
