When Uber first launched in Nairobi on June 17, 2015, it was greeted with scepticism and bewilderment. Few, mainly techies, believed the online taxi hailing service could succeed in a city without street addresses. But as Uber started to change the local transport narrative, it hit a headwind of resistance to change. Uber has now weathered the storm and is poised to cause more disruptions in our chaotic transport system.
Its continued presence in Africa is creating new business models, making investments in the transport sector more rewarding, generating massive data that improves decision making and helps tax authorities collect more revenue from a sector that has largely remained informal.
