2024-08-26 23:19:26
In Ivory Coast, many startups started last January to welcome tourists for CAN, the African Cup of Nations. Six months later, some have managed to stay afloat, and are trying to find a place in these competitive markets against Uber and Airbnb multinationals. This is the case of Camansa and Go’Babi.
There is no shortage of hotel options in Abidjan: the market is divided between Airbnb, for all accommodations, and Post, reserved for hotels. But these two places have the disadvantage of offering many offers outside the economic capital, where the search for accommodation is generally through word of mouth. « We have assigned teams all over the country to record these various offers, explained Yann Akoun, one of the founders of the Ivorian platform Camansa, which decided to compensate for this need. And we go to far corners. We talk about Korhogo, we talk about Man, we talk about Gagnoa, we talk about Tiassalé, these kinds of places, where it is not very easy to find offers on Airbnb. »
A solution for local cities
Another well doneAirbnb faced by its Ivorian users: lack of choice in payment methods. ” Few people use bank cards in Ivory Coast, Note Select Content. So people use mobile money a lot, money is also used. That is the first obstacle. The second obstacle is that people don’t necessarily know and don’t use IT tools very much. And in general, what we do is talk to hoteliers who don’t really have knowledge of these IT tools. We managed to show them that this platform can generate business. »
The small size of Camansa, which still only has 350 clients, makes it possible to offer personalized support and that is its weakness and strength.
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This is also the case for Go Babi, which operates in a completely different field of activity, that of urban transportation. The Ivorian application must face two VTC giants: American Uber and Russian Yango. Your strategy to stand out? Low prices and no markup, thanks to a small margin. ” When you enter a competitive market like that, you have to make compromises, Notes Yves Pacôme Djoman, operations manager at Dayasam, the company that owns Go Babi. Most of the criticisms people make about Uber and Yango are about prices. Prices increase during peak demand periods, early in the morning or lower in the evening, or when it rains. Therefore, Go Babi positions itself in this sector to provide competitive prices that suit drivers and customers. »
Scaling problem
But the Go Babi fleet only has thirty vehicles and for customers, the waiting time is affected. ” Emotions that come back to us :”The prices are good, but the cars are not enough“, know Yves Pacôme Djoman. Waiting times are very long, so users tend to rush back to competitors, because there, the vehicle will be very fast… »
In recent years, the Ivorian startup ecosystem has been growing rapidly. The amount brought by these increased from 1.8 million euros in 2019 to 30.2 million euros in 2022.
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