Just like LagRide, Edo to launch EdoRide e-hailing service ‘any moment’

Edo State Government will be launching its own ride-hailing company, EdoRide, anytime soon. This was disclosed to Technext by the Director of Transport Planning of the Edo State Transport Authority, Engineer George Aghaghowa.

According to the Director, preparations are currently at an advanced stage, as the government has been working with a partner to bring the vehicles into the state.

“Edo State is planning to acquire or purchase some vehicles. It is going to be a public transport scheme which we will call EdoRide just like you have LagRide in Lagos State. As I speak right now, the Edo State government is in touch with the company that will do the supply. We have reached an advanced stage, and any moment from now, the vehicles will come,” Engineer Aghaghowa said.

New cars used to illustrate the story/Credit: Ejike Kanife

He, however, declined to give a specific timeline, stating that due to the sensitivity of certain information, it will be difficult to be really exact about the time the vehicles will come and service will commence.

Engineer Aghaghowa explained that the essence of the EdoRide service, with its fleet of cars, is to expand public transport options in the state. He said this would go a long way in alleviating the transportation problems faced by the people of Edo. He also noted that the EdoRide app, which will power the service, is almost completed.

“When the EdoRides comes, it is going to be within the Edo City Transport. But it is going to be operated majorly using the app, which is improving the gig economy,” he said.

He also noted that the state governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, is working assiduously towards completing and eventually launching the ride-hailing service. He said the governor is putting all his effort into seeing that the transportation problems in Edo State are addressed. This includes commissioning a fleet of 100 Toyota Hiace buses for the new Edo Line, the state’s inter-city transportation system.

Engineer George Aghaghowa, Director of Transport Planning, Edo State Transport Authority/Credit: Ejike Kanife

He pointed out that the governor is also embarking on major transportation infrastructure development, like the construction of flyovers in two strategic places in Benin. He has also purchased some vehicles for the intra-city service company known as Edo Transport Service Limited. They are the operators of Edo City Transport buses.

EdoRide modelled after LagRide

The Director of Transport Planning hinted that the Edo State ride-hailing service will be in the mould of LagRide, the Lagos government-backed ride-hailing service. Which makes sense, seeing as LagRide remains the only state-backed ride-hailing service in Nigeria. This, however, calls to mind certain elements of LagRide operations vis-à-vis what EdoRide could look like.

First, LagRide is not directly administered by the state government. Instead, the service is run by the CIG Group, which is responsible for day-to-day running of the business, including maintaining the app. It remains unclear how much operational independence the Edo State government would grant its partners.

Furthermore, Lagride began as a rental service before slowly pivoting to a drive-to-own system, with vehicles awarded to drivers who showed promise at the rental stage. It remains to be seen what model the new EdoRide would employ as it rolls out.

Another issue to contend with would be competition with the e-hailing companies already operating in the state, like Bolt, inDrive and Uber. Drivers operating across these apps are grappling with low ride demands and very low fare prices. A general consideration is that the average commuter in the state cannot afford ride-hailing fares if they were priced like Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, etc.

EdoRide will be modelled after Lagride/Credit: Ejike Kanife

Like Lagride, EdoRide, with its new vehicles, will be expected to be a more luxurious and much more expensive service than the regular e-hailing service. Low demand and low earnings can therefore be expected, as is currently the reality of drivers on the LagRide platform who spoke with Technext.

Finally, it is unclear whether EdoRide would launch with electric vehicles or stick with regular fossil cars. So far, LagRide has more than 1,000 cars on its fleet.

See also: Lagride secures $100m financing from UBA to scale its drive-to-own business