Little Ride, a Safaricom-backed taxi-hailing app developed by Craft Silicon, is set to launch in Uganda this month. This is will be first services offered by Little Ride outside Kenya.
Little Ride had earlier announced expansion plans in 2016, but this was delayed to first strengthen Kenyan operations.
Kamal Budhabhatti, founder Craft Silicon said: “We had a plan to launch [in Kampala] last year. But we felt that we must strengthen our position in our home ground before we go out.”
By October 2017, Little Ride claimed it had about 5,000 drivers using its app and offering more than 13,000 rides at peak hours over the weekends.
The company also plans to open its operations in Nigeria, a large market the company has been eyeing since 2016.
“Nigeria [is in our] plan. But I would also be able to tell you [the launch date] in a few weeks after we roll out Uganda,” said Mr Budhabhatti.
“Nigeria is where we have our biggest continental operations as Craft Silicon and so we believe we have leverage there. The same applies [to] Uganda where we are also based,” he added failing to mention what telecom operators the company will partner with as it expands to Uganda and Nigeria.
By opening its doors in Uganda, Little Ride will be sparking a price war in a market that is already occupied by Uber and Taxify. Uber entered the Ugandan taxi market in June 2016 while the Estonian-based Taxify expanded to Uganda last year.
Earlier, Mr Budhabhatti had said Craft Silicon will attract passenger through lower charges to gain the market share in new countries.
