A Chinese owned digital business operator in Nigeria popularly known as OPay has announced the suspension of its digital transport services, ORide and OCar due to the COVID-19 pandemic and government ban.
OPay made this announcement via a statement seen by The ICIR on its official twitter account on Thursday.
According to the statement, the suspension is due to the government ban on motorcycles in some states of the country and lockdown imposed by government to contain the spread of COVID-19 which resulted in a ‘harsh business conditions across the country.
The ICIR had reported how commercial motorcycle companies and riders were affected by the ban on motorcycles in some parts of Lagos State in February.
OPay, in the statement, said ride-sharing businesses worldwide have been affected by coronavirus due to cessation and restriction of movement.
The company, however, stated that its other services would continue to function as the ride-sharing is only a part of the services it renders.
It further stated that the ride-sharing services are a minor part of the business as such would have a minimal impact on its overall businesses.
“Opay had already taken preemptive steps to restructure our business focus away from rides. It is worthy to note that this final restructuring has minimal impact on OPay as a whole business.
“It is important to clarify that ride-sharing had always been only one part, and not a major part of OPay, diversified business in Nigeria,” the statement read.
The statement further revealed that during the pandemic, the company witnessed an increase in demand for its online and offline mobile money service.
Due to the suspension of transport services of the company, many Nigerians who are registered as riders under the company’s digital platform are set to lose their jobs.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94