Little cab (now known as Little), a ride hailing service has prompted Uber and others in the Kenyan ride hailing industry to slash charges to both riders and drivers. Little has always fronted itself as the cheapest alternative to Uber’s dominance.
Little is a joint venture between Kenya’s leading telco Safaricom and Software firm, Craft Silicon. The latter is believed to have over 45 offices globally with intentions of launching there, even in Safaricom’s absence. Next on the list is Uganda and later Nigeria towards the end of the first quarter of 2017, according to Craft Silicon CEO, Kamal Budhabhatti as quoted by Techweez.
Little’s aura besides being cheap is the use of USSD to book rides by riders. This extends its scope of potential customers to include non-smartphone users and also reduces data associated costs to smartphone users who might opt to use USSD, instead of the app.
While its disruption is being felt in Nairobi, the same might follow it to Kampala where Uber’s operations have been met with allegations of reduced incentives to its drivers, who allegedly have joined hands with Uber’s competition while others have quit the service overall.
Till Little launches, Uber dominates the ride hailing industry in Kampala with its competition barely scoring mentions nor Uber’s success since it touts itself as the only cheapest alternative to normal cabs.
