Nigeria’s most notable last-mile delivery firm, Gokada has shifted to an asset-light strategy amid efforts to obtain investment, TechCabal reports.
The company’s COO, Oluwaseun Omotosho, was quoted in the article as having acknowledged the strategy change, which began in 2022.
By being asset-light, Gokada has reduced its ownership of the estimated 5,000 motorcycles on its platform to 10%. When drivers join the company, they become partners and are paid a commission for each order they complete.
Gokada was first established in 2017 as a hire-purchase company for drivers. The plan entailed the corporation buying the bikes and collecting a daily payback fee stretched for up to three years. After these drivers paid their bills in full, the idea was to turn them into partners. However, this strategy proved expensive.
Gokada assumed costly maintenance charges of tens of thousands of dollars per month between late 2021 and early 2022 because it was the owner of the motorcycles.
“We thought to ourselves, what can we do to stop this? If we had continued, the business would have closed down,” Omotosho said.
Gokada has implemented strategic changes in its business model, transferring maintenance costs to drivers and shifting from purchasing motorcycles to connecting drivers with financing companies.
This restructuring contributed to the company’s revenue growth in 2022. Instead of procuring motorcycles, Gokada will now manage them and handle payment collections.
Additionally, the company is currently engaged in discussions with investors for potential funding in the coming year, although specific details remain undisclosed.
