Ride-hailing app Bolt formerly Taxify – have announced their plans to launch a food service in South Africa in the months ahead.

It first announced its intention to launch a worldwide food delivery service earlier this year, with one of the first three countries to offer the service being South Africa.

Bolt has grown exponentially year after year, having started operations in South Africa in 2016 in Johannesburg, and is now available in more South African urban centers than any other e-hailing platform.

Bolt Food was launched successfully in Estonia in August 2019, in Lithuania in November 2019, and is aiming to be launched in South Africa, Latvia and Finland in the coming months.

The group said it has doubled its presence in South Africa since the beginning of the year, now running its ride-hailing services across all nine provinces in 34 secondary towns and cities.

Gareth Taylor, country manager for Bolt in South Africa, said pilot services are launched throughout the year through several new provincial cities and towns. The network will be operational in about 40 South African cities and towns once the 2020 roll-out is complete.

“Bolt’s 2019 strategy focused on launching ride-hailing services in more towns and cities outside of the main centres,’ he said. “Expansion into provincial urban centres gives consumers in smaller cities the opportunity to experience the convenience and affordability of on-demand transport for the first time, and provides significant work opportunities for drivers.”

Bolt’s food delivery services can compete directly with other food delivery applications depending on the request such as Mr. D Food and Uber Eats.

Picture: Supplied

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