Kenyan Telco Safaricom is partnering up with a local software firm Craft Silicon to launch a taxi-hailing company.
The company which will take on Uber is one of the avenues Safaricom is looking at as seeks new sources of revenue.
Craft Silicon will launch the app called Littlecabs within in the next three weeks.
Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore in an interview said that it is effectively a rival for Uber and said it will be cheaper and better for the local community.
Safaricom will help develop the application, offer the network connectivity, put Wi-Fi in vehicles that will be signed up on Littlecabs, and use its mobile-phone based financial service M-Pesa to process payments, Collymore said.
Safaricom Revenue from calls rose 4 per cent in the financial year ending March 2016, bucking the trend in other markets where voice revenues are falling.
The company expects its earnings to rise in the financial year to next March through increased data usage and higher sales of smart phones.
