Nigeria’s Gokada Rides Eyes Super App With Diversified Services

Nigerian ride-hailing startup Gokada Rides is diversifying its services and bolstering its eCommerce and food delivery units after expanding into last-mile delivery and logistics in 2020, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday (June 1).

The company’s move to branch out was prompted by the prohibition of motorbike-taxi services in Lagos last year. Gokada now has plans to offer its bike ride-hailing services in Ogun and Oyo states, where there are no bans.

The food delivery space in Nigeria is forecast to reach $10 billion by 2025, according to Statistica, per Bloomberg.

Gokada CEO Nikhil Goel told Bloomberg that the startup has its sights set on driving success in the same vein as Gojek and Grab, which offer multiple services in Southeast Asia, including food delivery and eCommerce.

“This is exactly what Gokada does as well,” Goel told the news outlet. “We are excited by what Gokada has the potential to become in Africa.”

Gokada is eyeing the expansion of its delivery network to Abuja, Port-Harcourt and Ibadan before the end of 2021.

“The pandemic has enabled us to really test and prove our business model in Lagos and we intend to build on our growth with the launch of our new app,” Goel said.

Gokada’s biggest rival is Jumia, launched in Lagos in 2012. An eCommerce marketplace offering a range of services, Jumia also was the first on the scene in Nigeria, per Bloomberg.

Aside from Gokada, two other startups offering ride-hailing motorcycle taxis were banned from operating in Lagos last year — Max.ng and ORide. Lagos is Nigeria’s most populated city and its second-largest after Kinshasa.

The rise and prominence of the super-app concept was evidenced by Grab’s proposed super-sized public offering in April via a SPAC merger. The deal could put Grab’s valuation at $40 billion, raising about $4.5 billion for the Southeast Asian startup.

Super apps handling multiple end-to-end transactions could become important concerning consumers’ digital protection, Angus McDonald, co-founder and CEO of Cover Genius, told PYMNTS in April in The Connected Economy’s Power Source – CEO Edition.

“Consumers’ desire for point-of-sale protection will be at an all-time high in a post-pandemic world,” McDonald said. “With embedded insurance tied to super app activities, customers’ needs are better met, and an additional revenue stream opens up.”