You’ll soon ride Uber boat in Lagos because cars are now too mainstream

As the population of Lagos continues to explode with the roads increasingly getting congested, choked and impassable, Uber, the global ride-hailing service, prefers to see the glass as half full.

Uber has 36,000 active drivers in sub-Saharan Africa and operates in a number of countries in East and South Africa.

However, Uber is largely absent from West Africa, save for its operations in Nigeria and Ghana.

The company has now identified West Africa, especially Nigeria, as a target for its potential expansion.

The Lagos waterways

Chief Business Officer for Uber, Brooks Entwistle, told Reuters that West Africa is a growth opportunity for the company.

You will soon hail a boat ride in Lagos from the Uber app (AFP) AP/Diane Bondareff

The United Nations predicts that Nigeria’s population will more than double to 400 million by 2050, which would make the nation the third most populous country in the world after China and India.

Lagos, which sits on the lagoon and is surrounded by water and marshlands, is Nigeria’s commercial capital and most populous city.

Lagos is also notorious for its traffic gridlock that frustrates and confounds all at once.

Entwistle says Uber is looking to take advantage of Lagos’ waterways. He adds that the company is in talks with the Lagos state government on ushering a transport system on the city’s waterways as a way of bypassing its legendary choked roads.

“We are looking at the waterways here, which are very interesting to us as it relates to a potential service,” said Entwistle.

Choked roads is exactly what Uber needs to channel its business map elsewhere (Punch) ece-auto-gen

Uber has launched a boat service in the Indian city of Mumbai in the last few months.

“We did launch Uber Boat in Mumbai and we have watched the product develop. It’s in its early stages and we think there is high relevance here,” he said, referring to Lagos.

The Uber executive described Lagos as “one of the great growth opportunity cities in the world”.

Entwistle also disclosed that Uber has also held business discussions with a bus firm and regulators in Lagos.

Lagos is a megacity of over 20 million inhabitants who daily stretch infrastructure and resources to dilapidated limits.

The Lagos state government has been unable to fix its road congestion problem since forever.