When Uber pioneered in Nairobi sometime last year, the other taxi players in Nairobi spear-headed by their drivers led demonstrations in the city in protest oblivious that the entry of Uber was a culmination of similar digital taxis with apps to boot.
In the recent past, there has been a mushrooming of digital Cabs such as Mondo-ride, Mara Moja, Wapigo, Taxipixi, Sasa Cabs, Dandia, Little Cabs, Taxify, pewin, and Waytaxi which is the latest entrant in the market and things can only get better for the taxi user.
Prices have been reduced to record lows of up to Sh16 per km from as high as Sh100 per km. Cab drivers in Nairobi are also spoilt for choice in terms of employment as evidenced by the various digital caps and they are only required to submit their job applications online as opposed to the past when seeking for driving jobs was a cumbersome process.
Uber; a San Fransisco-based firm turned global phenomenon as of late faced stiff competition from major players in the taxi industry like Little cabs a Craft Silicon firm which has partnered with Safaricom; East Africa's most profitable and biggest firm controlling at least 2 percent of Kenya's GDP to give Uber a run for its money.
Former major players in the taxi business like JimCab, Virgin Cabs, Allitex, Princess Travel have been relegated to the periphery and things can only get better for both the driver and the taxi client in this war of the transport giants in Nairobi before they roll out to other major towns.
Safaricom corporate affairs director Stephen Chege notes that his firm has partnered with Little Cabs since they want to assist local firms to offer specialized solutions and innovations.
Uber Africa spokesperson, Samantha Allenberg in a recent interview with one local daily emphasised that his company does not focus on competitors but rather on how to better the experience of their riders and drive-partners.
Uber CEO, Peter Mbugua was categorical that the more apps in the market the merrier for everyone as this was a sure way to improve the value of service.
"If there was only one app in the market,the protest we saw last week by Uber drivers would not have happened," he said in his recent interview to a major local daily.
Mbugua was referring to last Thursday's demonstrations by Uber Cab drivers in Nairobi to protest the very low cost that Uber was offering in terms of their chargers to their riders, a perfect case of blessings in disguise of the riders.