With the backing of Kenya’s telecoms giant Safaricom, taxi hailing app Little is set to commence operations in Nigeria’s tech capital city of Lagos come October.
This means that the company will be competing for a share of the Lagos market with industry leaders Uber and Taxify. This is the first time that Little will be going beyond Kenya.
Confirming the development, Little’s CEO, Kamal Budhabatti said that the firm is also aiming to expand its network locally by launching the e-hailing app in Eldoret and Nakuru towns. Little is currently available in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.
Business Daily reported Budhabatti said its team is already in Nigeria for the official launch on 08 October and it is hoping to extend the business further in the continent.
The app was developed by local financial technology firm Craftsilicon and has so far registered about 2,000 drivers on its platform. There are about 10,000 trips daily, according to Budhabhatti.
He said recent features added in the app, which include a panic button to boost security of passengers and drivers and a facial recognition system, will be introduced in the Nigerian market, too.
On a head to head basis, Little will have Taxify to contend with as the youngest entrant into Lagos. Last month, Taxify said it received undisclosed investment from China’s DiDi Chuxing, a partnership that will see the former leveraging in the DiDi’s technology and scale.
Taxify has also entered London today to further its European ambition.
(PageoneNg)
