When Uber first began operating in Nairobi four years ago, early adopters were only too happy to have an on-demand taxi service that was cheaper and took away the headache of haggling over fares. The initial driver partners were said to have made a killing with anecdotal reports indicating that they got returns on their investment, mostly from loans, in under a year.
In the beginning, traditional cab drivers were oblivious but soon caught on to the disruption that was happening right under their noses. Predictably, the realisation that there was a new player eating their lunch led to an explosive reaction.
