Easy Taxi Sold In Kenya & To Be Rebranded Little Cabs

Moses Kemibaro · April 30, 2016

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I just got off the phone with a source who confirmed that although Easy Taxi is closing shop in Kenya at the end of May 2016, they have been acquired and will be rebranded to Little Cabs from the 1st June 2016. As of this writing, Easy Taxi has over 3,000 drivers in Nairobi, Nakuru and Mombasa. In addition, during the time Easy Taxi operated in Kenya it executed over 150,000 rides to-date which is really impressive!

A key driver behind the exit of Easy Taxi not only in Kenya but in all of Africa was the fact that Goldman Sachs had pumped US$ 245 Million into the Africa Internet Group (AIG) earlier this year. AIG is the holding company that owned and operated the Easy Taxi business throughout Africa. At the same time, Goldman Sachs had invested US$ 1.9 Billion in Easy Taxi’s competitor Uber at the start of 2015. Therefore, it stands to reason that AIG had to drop Easy Taxi in Africa given that it was effectively competing with Uber with a common investor in Goldman Sachs.

Little Cabs will be powered by an on-demand taxi platform developed by Craft Silicon. In addition, apparently, Safaricom is heavily involved as a partner in the roll-out of Little Cabs which should lend much needed gravitas in making the brand stand out. Even though it would appear that Uber is now leading the on-demand taxis sector in Kenya, other players like MondoRide have just joined the fray and its rumoured that on-demand courier business Sendy also plans to launch an on-demand taxi service in the very near future.

To make matters even more interesting, I understand that Lyft is soon launching in Kenya too with the backing of General Motors. I am particularly keen to see how the on-demand taxi sector will pan out in Kenya given that there are other players like Pewin Cabs’ Dandia and Mara Moja also in the market. Going forward, it seems inevitable that some consolidation will be needed for some of the smaller players to achieve any sort of meaningful impact.

Given that Little Cabs has the backing of Safaricom as a partner and some significant investment as well as a good on-demand taxi services platform, this should give them some level of market advantage? It also does not hurt that their legacy client base from Easy Taxi makes it the second largest on-demand taxi service in Kenya after Uber from the get go. Whatever the case, it looks like there are interesting times ahead for Kenya’s nascent on-demand taxi services sector!

The Author

Moses Kemibaro

Moses Kemibaro is the Founder of Dotsavvy, Kenya’s first Digital Business Agency which he established in 2002. Until December 2018, he also served as the Commercial Manager in East Africa for the Perform Group, the leading global digital sports media business that owns Goal.com, the world’s leading digital destination for football content with over 70 million users per month globally - and 2 million in Kenya.

Moses is a seasoned digital services professional having worked in Africa’s Internet Industry for over 15 years. In 2012 he was the Sales Director for Africa at InMobi, the world’s leading Independent mobile ad network where he led sales in Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria and Ghana. Between 2010 and 2012, Moses was the Founding Regional Manager at Dealfish East Africa (now known as OLX Kenya) which he grew from scratch to become the leading online classifieds on mobile and desktop in Kenya and Uganda.

Previously, Moses worked at companies such as 3mice Interactive Media and Africa Online at the very start of Kenya’s digital revolution. Moses is also an award-winning and often quoted TechBlogger at MosesKemibaro.com where he rants and raves about all things digital in Kenya and Africa.

30 Comments

JustJemimah
April 30, 2016 at 3:17 pm — Reply
The market is highly competitive but a company like Craft Silicon known for its good innovations can bring the much needed impact. Karibu Little Cabs!
- jeremiah migosi
  June 19, 2016 at 7:33 pm — Reply
  hi, i have 4cars want to join little cabs, u are in which bulding???
Joseph Maina Muraguri
May 9, 2016 at 3:28 pm — Reply
How can i join little cabs
- HILLARY
  June 9, 2016 at 5:05 pm — Reply
  @Hi Joseph come to our offices along waiyaki way near Deloitte,Musa Gitau road
Allan Kiprotich
May 16, 2016 at 7:49 pm — Reply
Welcome little cabs please let me know how I can join
Joseph
June 9, 2016 at 11:55 pm — Reply
How do you join little cabs?
- Lauren
  June 16, 2016 at 11:50 am — Reply
  lovely
Peter Ngare
June 12, 2016 at 4:31 am — Reply
How do u join little cabs
Steve
June 13, 2016 at 2:52 pm — Reply
Hi,
How do i join little cabs and what are the requirements???
Do you have an email adress.
Wangui
June 22, 2016 at 8:58 am — Reply
Hello,
Im interested in joining little cabs.
Kindly advise on the requirements
Will appreciate your response
Regards;
tracy
July 4, 2016 at 10:44 pm — Reply
Wants to join little cabs
Fredrick mwangi Njoroge
July 5, 2016 at 9:47 am — Reply
I am a taxi driver working around in Ruiru Kiambu county am looking forward to become a partner, driver and a member of little cab. Please advise
David Igweta
July 5, 2016 at 3:25 pm — Reply
Way to go Craft Silicon and Little cabs! Innovation and competition offers customers variety and quality.
claire
July 5, 2016 at 6:54 pm — Reply
Hi,i would like to join .How do i go about it?
Safaricom's Little Cab officially launches in Kenya - Innovation Village
July 6, 2016 at 12:27 am — Reply
[…] since I blogged about Little Cab taking over the now defunct Easy Taxi’s business in Kenya a couple of months ago, I have been […]
Stephene
July 6, 2016 at 9:23 am — Reply
Hi,
I have a car and would like it to join little cabs. Please advise on the requirements.
Regards,
benson muchuku
July 6, 2016 at 10:48 am — Reply
I am interested to join little cabs. am taxi driver operating in eastleigh. my car is kcf Toyota succeed. please let me know your requirement
yves
July 9, 2016 at 4:54 pm — Reply
Hello,would like to put a car in the little cabs please advice.thanks
george kariuki
July 11, 2016 at 5:34 am — Reply
interested in joining, please email back, thanks
Jeremy
July 12, 2016 at 9:37 am — Reply
Hi I would like to join what’s the procedure thanks
Marcella Obilo
July 18, 2016 at 9:24 am — Reply
Morning,
Would like to find out whether you can offer cab services for companies and organizations.
Kindly let me as soon you can.
Best Regards,
kennedy
July 25, 2016 at 5:02 am — Reply
I am interested in joining little cabs, i have a car and would like to know the requirements. regards
MAURICE
July 28, 2016 at 3:20 pm — Reply
Hi am interested in joining lttlecab… what are the requirements for me as the owner of the car and what are the specs required on the car
John Ndungu
August 2, 2016 at 10:28 am — Reply
I have brand new Toyota Belta, can i join little cabs? What are the requirments
LG
August 3, 2016 at 3:11 pm — Reply
Could anyone please advice on how to register for little cabs?
Will really appreciate it… Cheers.
Chris
August 24, 2016 at 11:26 am — Reply
where are the little cab offices? want to enroll
LG
August 26, 2016 at 1:20 pm — Reply
Craft silicon building
Musa Gitau Rd, Nairobi
Next to Delloite.
Cheers.
Catherine
September 21, 2016 at 7:49 pm — Reply
I have a Toyota avensis year 2004 i want to bring it to little can but I don’t have a driver please advice.
Shellie
October 11, 2016 at 10:43 am — Reply
I have all requirements needed of a driver. Where do i go am in Mombasa and would love to be a part of the lady drivers here.Thanks
Edwin Wanyonyi
September 22, 2017 at 11:07 am — Reply
I am in Kisumu city. very interested in joining you. Please give me the requirements including the specifications of the vehicles.
Thank you.