ສະບາຍດີ,
Victoria from Techpoint here,
Here’s what I’ve got for you today:
- Bolt rebrands and borrows from inDrive playbook
- Chad gives Airtel, Moov one week to fix network woes
- Uber steps in to streamline KRA compliance
Bolt rebrands and borrows from inDrive playbook
Bolt is shaking things up again in Nigeria’s ride-hailing scene. The company has quietly rebranded its “Economy” class to “Basic” and, more importantly, rolled out a new ride-matching method that looks a lot like something from inDrive’s playbook, per Technext. Instead of offering a ride request to drivers one after the other, Bolt now blasts it to several drivers at once. Whoever accepts first gets the trip.
The idea is to cut down long waiting times and help them earn more. “To reduce wait times and help you earn more, we may send requests to several drivers. The first to accept gets the ride while it is removed from other drivers,” Bolt told drivers.
Osi Oguah, Bolt Nigeria’s General Manager, confirmed the new system — what the company calls “Blast Dispatch.” He said the method is designed to make ride-matching faster and more reliable, especially in busy areas where demand can overwhelm the system. “By reducing delays in assigning a driver, we’re able to enhance the overall rider experience,” he explained.
For riders, this might be a welcome change. Anyone who has tried to book a ride on Bolt knows the frustrating cycle: “Connecting to driver…” then “Driver is busy…” over and over, sometimes until you’re prompted to increase your fare just to get picked up. With Blast Dispatch, at least, the odds of a driver quickly accepting the ride go up.
But drivers are less excited. Some worry that Bolt is sliding into inDrive territory, where drivers often feel pitted against each other in a “fastest finger” race. inDrive is popular with riders for its lower fares, but many drivers say the system is exploitative and forces them into unprofitable trips.
For now, Bolt’s version doesn’t include bargaining like inDrive’s, but the shift hints at how competitive the Nigerian e-hailing market has become. inDrive already forced rivals to cut fares to stay attractive, and Bolt’s latest move suggests it’s willing to borrow more pages from that playbook if it helps win over riders.
Chad gives Airtel, Moov one week to fix network woes
Chad’s telecoms regulator is tightening the screws on poor service. The Minister of Posts and Digital Economy, Dr. Boukar Michel, has given Airtel and Moov Africa just one week to plug into the country’s national fibre-optic backbone or risk sanctions.
Michel said the government has already laid 1,275km of fibre as part of its modernisation project, but consumer complaints keep piling up, including frequent outages, unstable Internet, and tariffs that don’t match the quality on offer. “Public expectations for better communication have never been higher, and it is unacceptable to continue like this,” he warned.
Chad has one of the lowest Internet penetration rates on the continent at just 13.2%. DataReportal estimates that only 2.74 million of the country’s 20.7 million people were online in January 2025. That’s despite a 4.3% growth in users over the past year. The government hopes better network quality will help close the gap.
This isn’t the first time the authorities have cracked down. In August 2023, Airtel Chad was fined 5 billion CFA francs (about $8.3 million at the time) after a quality of service audit found serious degradation in its network. Moov Africa fared better in that audit but was still warned about weak coverage along major highways.
Airtel remains the country’s biggest operator with 52.7% market share by mid-2025, while Moov Africa controls the remaining 47.3%. Both are now under pressure to deliver more reliable service in a market where customer frustration is running high.
Chad’s move follows a wider trend in Africa, where regulators have been slapping telcos with fines for failing to deliver. From Zambia to Cameroon, Togo and Guinea, operators have been forced to pay up or compensate customers for outages and poor quality. Chad now seems determined to keep its telcos on their toes.
Uber steps in to streamline KRA compliance
Uber is taking a big step in Kenya’s ride-hailing space. The company will now issue e-TIMS-compliant invoices on behalf of its drivers, per TechTrends Kenya. The move ties directly into the Kenya Revenue Authority’s (KRA) push to digitise tax collection and make sure everyone, including ride-hailing drivers, stays on the right side of the law.
Why does this matter? For drivers, tax compliance has always been a headache. Under Kenya’s VAT regulations, anyone providing a service is supposed to generate an official tax invoice. But most Uber drivers aren’t accountants — juggling rides and paperwork often led to delays or mistakes. By stepping in, Uber is taking that load off drivers’ shoulders.
The process to get onboard is pretty simple: drivers just need to read and sign a consent form in the app, and then upload a valid KRA PIN certificate. Those without a PIN will have to apply through the KRA portal before they can keep driving with Uber.
Beyond compliance, this change could reshape how people use Uber. Corporate riders, who often need tax receipts to file business expenses, will now find Uber trips more attractive. That could mean more bookings for drivers and a stronger position for Uber against rivals in Kenya’s competitive ride-hailing market.
Not all drivers are celebrating just yet. Some say linking their KRA PIN to the app feels like extra admin, while others welcome the relief of not having to issue invoices themselves after every trip. Uber has made it clear, though: this is mandatory if drivers want to stay active on the platform.
What’s the big picture? Uber’s move signals a shift in Kenya’s digital economy: platforms are beginning to carry the regulatory burden on behalf of their service providers. If it works smoothly, e-TIMS invoicing could become the new normal in ride-hailing, blending compliance with convenience and maybe even giving riders a new reason to choose Uber over the competition.
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Opportunities
- Kuda Technologies is hiring a Legal Counsel. Apply here.
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Have a productive week!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa
