By Bizna Brand Analyst
Uber and other ride-sharing apps have stirred great awe and controversy recently in Nairobi, and globally. But let’s stop playing the blame game. Slow-drive protests and roadblocks are counterproductive to our already slowing economy. Each stakeholder can bring something constructive to the table so that Kenyans can be best served. The current situation where the traditional taxi industry views Uber and other ride sharing cabs as intruders should come to an end.  Uber is simply showing how the taxi industry should be operating, not locking anyone out. Uber and ‘yellow-line’ cabs do not need to be mutually exclusive
For the traditional taxi sector, the rise of app-using cabs is a wake-up call to adapt to the needs of 21st-century customers. By and large, a major redesign of the traditional taxi business model is needed. Cashless payments, online ratings, driver safety and a complaints-handling system, better services and ethical practices are all needed. There are two options. Drivers could join Uber, or car owners could easily learn from the best and  create their own Uber-like platforms. There is no evidence of unfair competition; what’s unreasonable about being innovative and scientific?
Traditional taxi companies need better strategies to be viewed as legitimate players in the economy, crafting a more compelling rhetoric on their impact, to secure better government and citizen support. How they handle negative issues and customer convenience are key to their long-time survival.
The government needs to quickly create a clear legal and regulatory framework that supports new innovation and the informal economy. Uber is an innovative experiment in the transport system but is far from being the dominant design. The informal economy created by the companies, by turning anyone with a car, the app, and the time, into informal entrepreneurs is a safe haven where innovation can be tested cheaply and quickly before being replicated on a larger scale.
If our legislation protects only mainstream goods and services, and the formal economy, we risk prematurely killing innovative ideas. Given our world-class universities, talent and financial savvy, there are ample opportunities for nairobi to be the Silicon Valley of East AFrica – but only if the government embraces innovation and the informal economy. There is no better time to redesign our regulatory framework to accommodate these and future disruptive innovations.
The government can help resolve the Uber problem through incentives, regulation and taxation, including establishing regulations on liabilities for incidents affecting passengers using the app and ensuring that all app “entrepreneurs” receive fair treatment (for instance, on commission, insurance and employment status).
The traditional taxi industry and car-hailing-app companies are complementary and can co-exist – if they focus on their own strengths.
The traditional taxi industry should not beat Uber by fighting it but by learning from it.
