Tag Archives: uber

The legacy of Uber’s business model and app will outlive the company in Africa

By Niti Bhan | Published: August 27, 2019

As news of Uber’s possible decline and fall filters in, it behooves me to take a moment to ponder the implications for sub Saharan Africa’s digital economic ecosystem, particularly the decentralized hybrid one emerging among the erstwhile informal sectors of the economy, such as motorcycle taxis and other on demand services. While Uber itself has […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Analysis, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Cashless transactions, Commerce en ligne (e-commerce), Consumer Behaviour, Design, Economy, Ecosystem, Frameworks, Innovation Planning, Marchés africains, Marketing, Mobile platform, Perspective, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Technology | Also tagged business model, demand and supply, informal economy, prepaid economy, social biashara, uberization, uberization of african informal economy | Leave a comment

Detailed breakdown of Uber’s business model in Kenya puts spotlight on weaknesses

By Niti Bhan | Published: October 25, 2016

Latiff Cherono has just published an indepth analysis of what exactly it takes for an Uber driver in Nairobi to cover the cost of doing business. Here’s a snippet, In this post, I try to understand the root cause of the disconnect between how the customer (who defines the value), Uber (the service that controls […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Analysis, Business Models, Consumer Behaviour, Design, East African Community, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Income, Innovation Planning, Kenya, Marketing, Mobile platform, Perspective, Platforms, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Technology, Uganda, urban | Also tagged africa, analysis, biashara economics, business model, costs, data, East Africa, operating environment | Leave a comment

Uber’s app lowers barriers to formalization for unorganized taxi industry in Kenya

By Niti Bhan | Published: March 7, 2016

This interesting article in the Kenyan news made me think about the role that an app like Uber could play in markets where there’s a high proportion of informal & unregulated business activity. As with much technological advancement, resistance comes with change. Mpesa and the internet were once thought to be passing fads and have […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Alternative currency, Business Models, Cashless transactions, Consumer Behaviour, Ecosystem, Flexibility, Innovation Planning, Mobile platform, Perspective, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Sub Saharan Africa, Technology, urban, User research | Also tagged business model, formalization, informal sector, kenya, prepaid economy, taxi | Leave a comment

Uber’s problems with women’s safety in India – my 2 rupees worth

By Niti Bhan | Published: May 23, 2015

In its mindless rush for scale, Uber leapt into the Indian market with their “hassle-free” service of hailing a car with a push of a button on your smartphone. I call this mindless because “will it scale” is an unquestioned imperative for a startup, not something that is thought through. Nobody asks should it scale, […]

Posted in Alternative currency, Assumption filter, Business Models, Cashless transactions, China, Consumer Behaviour, Culture, Design, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Flexibility, global, India, Innovation Planning, Kenya, Marketing, Mobile platform, Nigeria, Perspective, South Asia, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Technology, urban, User research | Also tagged business model design, cash transactions, india, payments, safety, service design, women | Leave a comment

Emerging Markets Competition – this time its technology

By Niti Bhan | Published: May 19, 2015

Around twenty years ago, when the Indian and Chinese markets first opened up to global brands, many were surprised to discover domestic incumbents were stronger than they had imagined. Proctor & Gamble’s laundry detergents battled for the Indian housewife’s attention and share of wallet. It wasn’t just their usual competitor Unilever either but indigenous upstarts […]

Posted in African Consumer Market, Analysis, Assumption filter, China, Consumer Behaviour, Emerging Markets, India, Kenya, Marketing, Mobile platform, Perspective, Strategy, Technology | Also tagged apps, fmcg, incumbents, market entry, mpesa, nairobi, taxi | Leave a comment