Africa

Uber to Conquer the African Roads

The giant Uber is spreading all over African continent

May 30th, 2016
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African roads, this is the new Eldorado of the American giant Uber. Leader of transport vehicles with driver established itself in Africa in August 2013 in Johannesburg, the economic capital of South Africa. It has since expanded its services to ten cities in the continent, Lagos (Nigeria), Cairo (Egypt), Nairobi (Kenya) and Casablanca (Morocco). And in a few next months, drivers can use the application to find customers in three other countries such as Uganda, Tanzania and Ghana.

"Africa is the last continent whose potential has not yet been explored. The lack of public transportation is a major problem in urban areas and offer a real alternative to the private car," says Alon Beds, CEO of Uber in sub-Saharan Africa, which now has in his sights Senegal and the Ivory Coast. „In most of the cities where we are present, people have a driver available in four or five minutes."

Beyond the cars, the bike is a very attractive development opportunity. Uber already offers this option in highly conglomerated Asian cities like Jakarta, Indonesia, and Bangalore, India, and now should come in test Nairobi. While logistics is a major problem on the continent, Uber is also relying on its firepower to invest into the niche of delivery, according to the model of UberEats, a meal delivery service launched earlier this year in the United States and Europe. "Once the network is built, cars can transport anything, says Alon Beds.

The only limit at the moment is the extension of the offer: 3G mobile network plays a crucial role. It stops in the big cities and is very random in rural areas, where transport needs are huge. "We are considering a simplified interface that would work with GSM phones, but we rely primarily on the coverage improvement," says Alon Beds.

To recruit drivers, Uber has had to adapt its screening selection. In South Africa, drivers must obtain a specific license issued by the authorities after checking their criminal records. But by making these checks, Uber was found that 10% to 15% of them had, after all, a criminal history.

References

Cultural Diplomacy News
Adam Slezak, CD News