Bolt Scales-up Safety in Ride-hailing Industry 

Omolabake Fasogbon
Africa’s leading ride-hailing platform, Bolt has stepped up efforts to enhance safety in Nigeria’s ride-hailing sector,leveraging technology innovations and  partnership with  stakeholders.
The organization stated that this  move was crucial to strengthen public confidence in digital transportation system.
Speaking at the organization’s  first Public Safety Summit that held in Lagos, recently, General Manager of Bolt Nigeria, Osi Oguah described safety as being significance to the business model, noting  the organization’s heightened investment in innovations, driver education, and platform’s integrity to drive this purpose.
“At Bolt, safety is not just a feature, it’s fundamental to the service we provide. We are consistently investing in tools and partnerships that prioritize the well-being of our users. This summit represents a major step forward in how we engage with our riders. It will be a rider-first platform to listen, learn, and collaborate on new ways to make our services even safer and more responsive,” he explained.
At the  summit too, the company  released a new report  pointing to progress in safety adoption on the platform.
The report shows a 42% reduction in its offline trips in the last 3 months, indicating greater usage of in-app safety tools.
In addition, there was a 298% increase in the use of the Trusted Contacts feature, which grew from 7,839 users in January to 31,216 in June. The Pick-Up Code feature also gained traction, with 5,568 riders in Nigeria enabling it.
Oguah stated that the summit which converged stakeholders from government, law enforcement, civil society, media, and  Bolt rider community, equally served as a collaborative forum for stakeholders to co-create long-term strategies for safer mobility.
He added that the initiative aligns with organization’s  broader vision to promote safety standards in Africa’s ride-hailing sector.
“We believe in educating users, and in maintaining a two-way conversation. Safety isn’t just a company’s responsibility, it’s a shared commitment with the community,”he said.