Uber in discussion with FG, states to ease traffic congestion, improve city branding
Uber, transportation Network Company headquartered in San Francisco, California, with operations in over 600 cities worldwide has entered into discussion with Nigerian government and states on how to ease transportation, congestion, enhance tourism and contribute to city branding.
The transport network that helps people get ride at the push of a button on their phones is negotiating ‘right sharing’ mobility model with Nigerian stakeholders. Right sharing allows Uber to pick more than one person to a destination.
This model, it is believed will make more people to abandon their cars which will ease congestion on city roads, reduce pollution and give cities better look.
Uber which marked its 4 years of business operation in Nigeria is also negotiating the same mobility model with ministry of transportation and other institutions in Ghana. Part of the negotiation in Nigeria is the education on right sharing, positives it can bring to a city and how it can improve the system and tourism, Lola Kassim, Uber General Manager for West Africa told BusinessDay in Lagos.
She further said that Uber which is in 13 cities in Sub Saharan Africa has over 100,000 people in Lagos who are actively using Uber and over 8,000 active drivers in Lagos and Abuja. “We are also contributing to image of Lagos for tourism and we have visitors from more than 65 countries who use Uber application which to us is very great”, Lola said.
In addition to celebrating its fourth year anniversary in Lagos, Uber also unveiled its new advert campaign tagged “Moments that Matter.” The campaign highlights creative collateral across different mediums like television, cinema, radio and digital.
The advert was a mix of television, radio and digital collateral humanizing the real benefits of using Uber around the city in a locally relevant way.
Speaking on the campaign, Margaret Banasko; Country Marketing Lead for Uber in West Africa said: “The key objective of the campaign is to Re-inforce Uber’s commitment as a collaborative, supportive partner that gets customers to the “last mile” in more ways than one.
Uber supports in moments that matter – whether it’s getting to and from work, picking up your mom from the bus park, or even having a night out with friends, Uber is at the centre of establishing emotional connections and supporting personal milestones.”
With Uber, she said there are more people who have safe and reliable way to experience Lagos any time of the day or night. ”It could be workers or those who use it after party celebration”.
We are excited at the way we are transforming people ability to move around the cities, also providing economic opportunities to a lot of drivers who now have another way to earn income. With this they can decide on when and where to drive to.
We also have partnership with some corporates from banks to telecom, insurance to retail to shopping malls. We are in most marketing elements.
DANIEL OBI