Safeboda marked the return of its popular bike-hailing service in Kenya two weeks ago but it seems the mobility company is not resting on its oars as it is reportedly set to launch other services. Chief of them is SafeCar, a taxi-hailing service set to be launched in Nairobi, Kenya this week.
SafeCar was first launched in Uganda in 2023 and has enjoyed steady growth. The taxi platform is believed to soon rival the bigger players like Uber and Bolt seeing as it is locally owned. According to reports, SafeCar ride-hailing service will be integrated into the Safeboda app such that it becomes an all-in-one mobility app.
The taxi-hailing feature is also expected to function pretty much like other popular cab-hailing services such as Uber and Bolt. This means riders could log on to the app, select their destinations, choose payment options and select their rides.
Safeboda coming back strong
Safeboda appears to be returning stronger in what would be its second coming in a market like Kenya. At the peak of its power, the company had a solid presence in countries like Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria and controlled a significant chunk of the e-mobility markets there. However, the company was forced to exit the Kenyan market in November 2020, a decision that it blamed on the impact of COVID-19 which was weighing down on its operations and sustainability.
It maintained its operations in Uganda and Nigeria until December 2022 when it exited the Nigerian market. At the time, SafeBoda said that it was leaving Nigeria because the bike-hailing economy in the West African country was not yet “economically viable.”
This was despite completing over 3 million rides in a few months, a feat many people considered a good run. This was also despite becoming the first beneficiary of the Google Africa Investment Fund, an investment the company said would be targeted at growing the Nigerian subsidiary.
According to a statement released at the time, it said the Nigerian market in its current state is not economically viable and unfortunately requires significant investment at this challenging time in the global economic landscape.” With that, the mobility startup focused all of its energies and resources on growing the Ugandan market.
Two weeks ago, however, the company announced the return of its bike-hailing services to Kenya. The service is expected to resume officially on February 5. It is unclear if there are plans for a Nigerian return, a market whose economic viability many would argue, has grown worse from what it was in December 2022.
SafeCar and other Safeboda services
Aside from the SafeCar taxi-hailing service, the company is also looking to launch a food delivery vertical. This is despite a bleak African market that has forced the exit of major players. Bolt Food, for instance, left both Nigeria and South Africa in December 2023.
Speaking with Technext at the time, Bolt Food said the reason for its exit was because it was only able to manage a paltry 5 per cent of the market despite heavy investments.
“Over the last 3 years, we have heavily invested in these markets, investing in low commissions to increase selection and incentives to encourage customers to move over to Bolt Food. Unfortunately, in Nigeria, these investments haven’t been successful and have only managed to achieve less than 5% market share,” Bolt told Technext.
It will be interesting to see how Safeboda does in this space.
The e-mobility company is also launching shopping and delivery partner services according to reports. It is believed that these services will be available on the app.
See also: SafeBoda’s exit from Nigeria and the issues ride-hailing startups face
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