Mr Tubosun Abioye, Co-founder of TRU, a new e-ride hailing platform, in Lagos on Sunday urged Federal Government to reduce taxes on business startups to create a more enabling environment for SMEs.
Abioye told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that government should make more policies that would encourage ease of doing business, especially with startups.
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He urged the government to give soft loans/ grants to business owners, especially post COVID, having felt the impact of the pandemic.
“They should create stable policies that would encourage companies to stabilize and grow to their full potential,” Abioye said.
Speaking on e-ride hailing business, he said taxation was one of the reasons drivers had issues with the platforms they were on.
“When companies like O’Rides and Gokada came into the country, it was massive and it made mobility easier.
“Unfortunately, government policies in terms of taxation caught up with them and massively disrupted their business,” he said.
Abioye, however, noted that in spite of the issue of taxation, the ride-hailing business was a gold mine in Africa, where it is currently growing at about 20 percent and expected to hit one billion dollars by 2024.
He advised the growing youth population to tap into the transportation business, noting that it would ultimately reduce the rate of unemployment in Nigeria.
According to Abioye, TRU platform assists in transporting people from one place to another in comfort, safety, and at an affordable price.
He said that TRU came on board to address the age-long complaints from drivers and riders on other cab-hailing services available in Nigeria.
“TRU platform will give room for ease of doing business with drivers who will be trained from time to time on proper driving skills, knowledge, customer care, and emotional intelligence which is extremely key when driving.
“The core value of TRU is to provide seamless transportation for its riders while ensuring the drivers can make more money than usual,” Abioye said.