ICT and Transportation Nexus in Nigerian
This is a wrap up post, you can catch the introduction here.
Technological advancement recorded in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has greatly impacted in the mobility sector. ICT has contributed to innovative business models enhancing car sharing platforms and traffic management. The Original Equipment Manufacturers have also leveraged ICT for important add-ons like the GPS, voice recognition and sensors among others to enhance the performance and safety of manufactured cars.
ICT-in-Transport : Nigeria's Narrative
While there are little activities in the domestic manufacturing of automobiles in Nigeria, there is a lot of activities around the application of ICT in the Nigeria mobility ecosystem. On July 23, 2014, one of the biggest name in the ICT enhanced car sharing platforms made its debut in Nigeria (VenturesAfrica, 2014). This launch by UBER has been rapidly followed by a sizable number of brands with fierce competition for market share majorly in Lagos, Abuja and Rivers state.
Scaling up of these platforms have been considerably limited by the following factors'
1. Infrastructural gap (road, internet and security);
2. Consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP); and
3. Financial prowess of a larger percentage of the citizens.
A recent survey shows that UBER Nigeria (the leading carpooling service) has the lowest number of “Riders-to-Driver” (average of 38 riders to 1 driver) when compared to other countries like Ghana, Kenya and South Africa with an average of 47,72 and 84 riders to each driver. The shrinking pool of riders for each driver is a substantial reflection to the usability and degree of competition in each country.
The population advantage in Nigeria can be translated to a large pool of market. This is very important for a successful technology in the country. There seems to be a lot of possibilities for innovative technologies in Nigerian technology.