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Taxify eyes 10-fold Africa growth in 2 yrs

Taxify eyes 10-fold Africa growth in 2 yrs

Mubasher: Taxify, the European rival to Uber and the leading ride-hailing platform in Africa, expects to grow its business in Africa ten-fold during the two years ahead, while it works to overtake the US ride-sharing company in Europe.

Taxify looks to add more services and countries in the next year, the Estonian firm’s CEO Markus Villig said during this week’s Web Summit conference in Lisbon, where the firm opened earlier this year.

“We see massive potential in Africa to grow at least ten times in the next two years,” Villig told Thomson Reuters.

Moreover, Taxify is seeking to capitalise on escalating driver resistance to Uber over pay and other issues and get into new markets, including those abandoned by the US company such as Slovakia and Hungary.

“When you look at other regions in the world you have a local champion win in that place,” Villig said, adding that “we want to be that leader in Europe, that’s our focus.”

Taxify drivers are heading to rake a combined EUR 1 billion ($1.1 billion) from rides this year, he said.

The company has been cooperating with European regulator to try to amend tough public transport laws and rules, saying consumers benefit from the flexibility and competition brought by taxi-hailing firms.

For more flexibility, Taxify is working on various solutions for different sorts of rides, such as using smaller vehicles for city centers.

It is worth noting that Taxify has 15 million customers and half a million drivers on its platform in over 25 countries. The company secured last May $175 million in funding from a group led by Daimler.