Ride-hailing apps make first foray into Senegal
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Loading... - Pascal Chepkemoi
- 21 Sep 2022
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The old yellow cabs that whizz around Senegal’s capital city of Dakar are hard to miss. Beckoning at oncoming traffic, passengers compete on street corners to secure themselves a ride. Unlike many other African countries, ride-hailing apps are not yet common in Senegal.
Tech has been slow to take off in the former French colony—a general trend for Francophone Africa compared to Anglophone equivalents. But this is beginning to change as several startups make inroads into the untapped market over the last year—and the competition is heating up.
Companies have erected giant billboards overlooking many of Dakar’s raised motorways, offering discounts for first-time users. Paris-based Heetch, Russian firm Yango, and Algerian ride-hailing app Yassir have all started operations in Senegal over the last 12 months.
Malick Diagne, Heetch’s country manager, tells Quartz Africa that Senegal has evolved into a prime market for the rapid expansion of ride-hailing apps.
“We were thinking about entering Senegal in 2019—but the market was not ready for it. The timing is good now—we are seeing a switch from analog to digital. More and more people are going digital with smartphones.”
Targeting middle class market
Heetch and its competitors are all targeting middle class Senegalese citizens and expats. The price of a trip varies in comparison to local cabs—some journeys are more expensive, some are cheaper. But the startups hope to tap into the demands of a globalized demographic that prioritizes convenience, traceability, and safety over price.
“We are not here to revolutionize the market, we are here to modernize it,” said Diagne.“We are trying to make sure that Senegalese people have different options when it comes to mobility.” The executive says that as Senegal is an early-stage market, ride-hailing companies are not stuck in a race to the bottom to offer cheaper rides and win over customers.
The market of around 18 million people is big enough for each company to grow comfortably. Heetch’s main value proposition is the way it communicates with its customers, Diagne says. Read More…
