UBER ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR UGANDA IN AFRICAN EXPANSION DRIVE
(Posted 16th May 2016)
News just in confirm that UBER is, following the successful launch in Nairobi and Mombasa, also eying a presence in Uganda as the company seeks further expansion in Africa.
The company made the announcement last week in Kigali at the World Economic Forum on Africa, singling out Uganda, Ghana and Tanzania as the next new UBER countries on the continent.
Operations in Nairobi / Kenya are also due to provide a cash payment system pilot programme, a major departure from hitherto common practice of payments by credit card. Once judged successful does UBER apparently intend to launch the cash payment option also in South Africa, where growth has been phenomenal.
The company is according to information received also in the final stages to launch additional apps which could cover parcel delivery and food deliveries to be known as UBER Rush and UBER Food, the latter becoming increasingly popular among the African urban middle class as growth rates for existing companies like HelloFood demonstrate.
Of added interest is the company’s undertaking to support licencing and registration of drivers in new markets to arguably avoid the war like scenes seen in Nairobi last year, where irate ‘normal‘ taxidrivers were targeting UBER drivers for beatings and even set vehicles alight before the Kenyan authorities stepped in hard to avoid things getting out of hand.
