Uber’s Take Over Spirit Drives Further Into East Africa

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By CultureBanx Team

  • Uber has more than 400 Chap Chap Vehicles on the Road in Kenya
  • Chap Chap drivers must pay Uber around $15 per day for two years

Uber wants to expand its low cost Chap Chap service into two more sub-Saharan African countries. Competition is already stiff for the company from the likes of Taxify, Mondo Ride and Little, which has a partnership with telecoms operator Safaricom. Will further expansion actually be beneficial for drivers?

Why This Matters: The company’s Chap Chap strategy is an interesting one for drivers. Uber selected the best drivers and gave them a car which costs around $6,000. They are expected to repay the money by giving Uber about $15 per day for two years. Now if we do some simple math, Uber is basically charging the drivers double what the cars cost.

The ride hailing giant’s East Africa general manager Loic Amado told Reuters, the popularity of its low cost services has led Uber to consider expanding into two other countries in the region before the end of 2018.

Currently Uber claims it has 311,000 active monthly riders in the region with 9,000 active drivers. The company didn’t name the potential countries for the Chap Chap expansion.

Situational Awareness: Nairobi was the first city in Africa in which Uber piloted its low cost, quick trip option Chap Chap, which means “faster” in Kiswahili. The Chap Chap service only uses Suzuki Altos vehicles. There are currently more than 400 of them on the road in Kenya, Uber’s second-largest market.

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