Thousands of Nigerian motorcyclists and drivers could enter the job market following today’s announcement by Uganda’s private transport company. safewedding which will leave the Nigerian market.
The announcement comes just three months after the company expanded its bike transportation service to include car transportation.
While details of the company’s exit are still sketchy at press time, a company official, who did not want to be named, confirmed to Nairametrics that the company will leave the country. Without giving further details, he confirmed that the passengers and drivers of the platform will be released.
Riders still in the dark: However, when Nairametrics spoke to one of the cyclists on the platform in Ibadan, he said he was unaware the company was about to leave the country. The cyclist who was surprised to hear the news said:
- “As of this morning, everything was normal, there is no such information. They haven’t told us anything.”
Surprising development: This is a surprising development as the company had just announced a new product. In early September this year, the transportation startup launched a car transportation service called safe car in Uganda and Nigeria. Announcing the launch, SafeBoda co-founder Rapa Ricky Thomson said:
- “We are very excited to launch SafeCar in our super app with a safer and more convenient solution than what is offered on the market. We talked to drivers and passengers, we tested our product and we are going to change transport in Uganda forever, we are going to stop using cash altogether.”
In early March, the bicycle transport company celebrated crossing 4 million trips and 50,000 deliveries with more than 10,000 cyclists and 100,000 passengers. The startup was launched in Ibadan, Nigeria in December 2019, but went live in March 2020.
Previous departures: This is the second time SafeBoda has exited a market since its founding in 2017. In 2020, SafeBoda exited Kenya after extending its services to Nairobi less than two years earlier. He explained that he left Kenya due to the negative effects of COVID-19 on his business.