[Transcript] #45: Gokada - How the mobility tech platform is providing delivery & transportation services across Nigeria

Episode recorded Jan 9 2022

Hello! Bankole here

Sharing an update plus the transcript of our Gokada episode.

Africa has soured on bike-sharing startups. Not too long ago, bikesharing was the beachhead of a super app strategy. The plan was to start with bike-sharing and use that to offer services to both sides of the marketplace ( insurance, bank accounts, etc.)

It didn’t pan out that way. Safeboda has dramatically scaled back its ambitions to focus on it’s home market, Uganda. Gokada has not fared much better. Over the last few years, there have been continuous layoffs and rumors of a firesale. In this capital-starved environment, Gokada transitioned to an asset-light model where they don’t own their motorcycles. Their reason? High maintenance costs. What’s left unsaid is how many drivers are willing to take over those maintenance costs for the same income.

Why hasn’t this worked? One reason is motorcycle sharing is operationally intensive and expensive, and the small transaction size does not provide enough $ margin to support a software solution. They did not, in fact, make it up in volume.

Car-sharing is going differently, perhaps because of Moove’s fundraising excellence or Uber’s recent financial performance. Africa is a small proportion of Uber’s business, so it’s not clear if you can read anything from that. It’s possible the higher order size from car-sharing and the fact that Uber has effectively outsourced driver demand creation to Moove, means that results may be different.

When done correctly, motorcycles can create economic opportunity and mobility for Africans. Time will tell if a software solution can help them do this more efficiently.

You can listen to the episode here. Paid subscribers can find the transcript below.

Have a great week,

Bankole.

---

[00:00:00] Olumide Ogunsanwo: Welcome to Afrobility, a conversation about African business and technology. Today, we're going to talk about Gokada, the Nigerian mobility tech platform. We'll explore the Gokada story across five different areas. One, African rights here in context. Two, Gokada's launch early history and growth over time. Three, its product monetization strategy. 4th is Competitive Possession and Potential Exit Options, and then 5th will end with our views on its overall outlook. This episode was recorded on January 9th, 2022. Banky, how goes it?

[00:00:37] Bankole Makanju: I'm good. I had a great break. It was busy. I was in, I was in Delhi. I was in India. I was in Lagos. I was in Port Harcourt. I was in Chennai. And like eight days, like three time zones, just living, you know, you know, how you live with those things up your nose, you're just used to it.

[00:00:53] Olumide Ogunsanwo: That means something completely different in New York. Okay. All right. So what are we talking about today?

[00:01:00] Bankole Makanju: We're talking about Gokada. Wait, first of all, sorry, 2022. Any New Year Resolutions? Oh shush.