Earlier this year, Gokada as well as other bike-hailing startups came under fire by the Lagos state government following a restriction in several parts of the state. However, the startup is not letting this deter its plans of fully launching its water operations in 2020.
The startup, via its twitter account disclosed that its plan to roll-out yachts for its water transportation business, GBoats, in 2020 still stands.
We told you guys 2020. pic.twitter.com/SmzDEhFobu
— Gokada (@gokadang) April 1, 2020
Although the service began in June last year, it was more of a test phase for the operations. This was as it only launched in three jetties in Lagos which resulted in the service not flying as people had expected.
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“It was operating out of The Five Cowries Terminal at LASWA yard Falomo in Ikoyi; the Kingfisher Waterfront Jetty at Wole Olateju in Lekki; and the Paradise Jetty at Walter Carrington in Victoria Island”
Also, it happened to have little or no infrastructures in place as at then, and soon after its supposed launch, nothing was heard of GBoats again.
Coming to you sooner than you know! Beating the traffic and doing more with time spent in gridlocks just got more interesting. GBoat is here! Watch this space for more details on how to use this service #GBoat #Gokada pic.twitter.com/K7cKVhCQGP
— Gokada (@gokadang) June 10, 2019
After the proscription of its activities in February, the startup’s CEO, Fahim Saleh made known to Technext that they were working on a launch this year as soon as their fleet was ready.
“We have two (2) boats now that came from China and we will be testing the service soon, and will increase the fleet as soon as operations kick off fully.” Fahim Saleh, CEO, Gokada.
From the pictorial depiction in the tweet, the fleet will most likely include Yachts, an upgrade to the boats it tested with.
This time too, unlike just Island routes for the test phase, rides will include mainland routes as Gokada looks to cater for Lagosians on both sides.
No launch date is set yet and this is in itself wise. With the coronavirus outbreak across the state and a lockdown in place, it remains to be seen when movements will be back to normal. Hopefully, when the startup re-launches again, this time it gets it right.
Juliet Ekwebelam
