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Lagos, Nigeria – It is shortly after noon and Abimbola Thomas has to go to work. It is only 10 km from his office. At any other time of the day, the trip would have taken 10 minutes, but not during the traffic at lunch time in Lagos. If Thomas rides, this trip could take him up to 120 minutes. To save time, Thomas climbs to the back of one of dozens of motorcycle taxis waiting for customers in the stands and downtown stores. He puts his arms around the driver's waist and the pair moves away quickly.
While the Lagos State Government does not officially promote motorcycle taxis, the growing demand for ways to reduce extremely long journey times is forcing more and more people to jump on the backs of taxis two-wheeled in Nigeria.
Technology companies are now trying to make it easier for bikers like Thomas and motorcycle taxis, wherever these urban pbadengers are. Last year, several applications to connect pbadengers with motorcycle taxis were launched. One calls the Gokada application.
Okadas: controversy over the roads of Lagos
Lagos residents call these two-wheeled taxis "okadas" because they are much faster than cars. Okada is the name of Nigeria's first private commercial airline, Okada Air.
A pedestrian is struck by a motorcycle taxi during a political rally [Goran Tomasevic/ Reuters]
Motorcycle taxis appeared for the first time in the country's commercial capital in the late 1990s.
During these early years, okadas have a bad reputation due to careless operators and horrible accidents. At the time, the number of fractures and bloody limbs grew so rapidly that local media nicknamed a section of the Igbobi National Orthopedic Hospital the "Okada district" .
Today, driving on okadas is a bit safer as Lagos State limits them to some inner streets.
Hiking in Africa
Uber debuted in West Africa five years ago. Since then, there have been few unhelpful local efforts to replicate the company's success in the United States. The most popular apps appear to be the most popular apps for motorcycles, as they address the unique needs of the Nigerian market: they can run blocking traffic.
Users download an app and request rides on their smartphone, and branded motorcycles appear on demand. Users can also call brand bikes on the street. Since the launch of Gokada, three other startups specializing in motorcycles have made their debut in Nigeria: Max, SafeBoda and Oride.
Gokada has more than 1,000 runners. Max, founded by two former students of the Mbadachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, has more than 1,000 motorcyclists.
Anticipating a multi-billion dollar market growth, investors have poured millions of dollars into these startups. Rise Capital and a consortium of local donors invested $ 5.3 million in Gokada. The company plans to use the money, in part, to open a state-of-the-art driver training school to check up to 500 drivers at a time, increasing daily commutes by ten.
Operating in a gray area
Fahim Saleh, co-founder and co-CEO of Gokada, acknowledges that his company exists legally in a gray area.
"I lived in New York. If you can do it in Nigeria, you can do it anywhere. & # 39; – Fahim Saleh, co-founder and co-CEO of Gokada [Gokada]
He claims that his team exploited a Nigerian stipulation that motorcycles with a cubic capacity exceeding 200 cubic centimeters can travel on all major roads and highways. Some government officials seized some Gokada bikes for other offenses, but the service continues to grow. "They said if you could go to New York, you can go anywhere," smiled Saleh, giving up life in Manhattan. "I lived in New York, if you can do it in Nigeria, you can [really] do it anywhere! "
"A futuristic Lagos with technology can have motorcycle taxis," he says, citing examples from East Asia, such as Go-Jek in Indonesia and Grab in Thailand. "Gokada is not just making incremental improvements, [but] we are making giant strides in keeping our drivers safe: weekly training, adequate safety equipment, technology-oriented driver behavior monitoring, intensive pre-selection, rapid response internal medical care, etc. We really care about our drivers and our customers. "
Hallh's concern is justified; In the fourth quarter of 2018, 747 motorcycles were involved in road crashes, according to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics. That's more than one in five accidents.
The cost of going slowly
Locals in Lagos call the bottlenecks of traffic slow down. Most residents spend more than two hours in traffic every business day. The cost of slowness is enormous. According to a former governor of Lagos State, each year, slowdowns slow down the city's economy, which accounts for 42 billion naira ($ 11.6 million) of economic output.
According to a former governor of Lagos State, every year delays in traffic cost the economy of Nigeria 42 billion naira ($ 11.6 million) of economic output[[[[Akintunde Akinleye / Reuters]
To understand why, consider the geography of Lagos. With an area of approximately 3,600 square kilometers, it is the smallest state in Nigeria. However, more than 18 million people live in the city of Lagos. Five million registered vehicles, or 200 vehicles per kilometer, travel every day on the city's 9,100 roads and highways.
Make me work
For its part, Abimbola Thomas, our busy commuter, was now used to the adrenaline rush of motorcycle taxi rides. He tapped an app on his smartphone and hailed a two-wheeler. He arrived in a few minutes and took him to his office at the time. "Bicycles are much more convenient as a means of transportation in Lagos," he said, picking up speed.
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