HerRyde, a women-only ride-hailing app launched in August 2022, has “hibernated” its operations after one year. The service aimed to connect women riders with verified women drivers and address gender disparities in the nation’s male-dominated transportation sector. 

HerRyde facilitated over 2,000 rides for more than 500 passengers, supported by a network of 200 registered women drivers, according to co-founder and former CEO Monsurah Oluwafuyi. However, in October 2023, the company decided to “hibernate” its operations. Oluwafuyi explained that this pause was necessary for the company to “re-strategize” and strengthen its financial capacity.

She said, “We found that it was important for us to go back to the drawing board to re-strategise. We are only hibernating so that we can improve our system and get more money,” adding that “it was a good test phase for us to identify what the key problems were in the industry.”

According to Benjamindada, Oluwafuyi, along with her friends Muhammad Muazu and Kamaldeen Ibrahim, founded the ride-hailing company. Plans were in progress to expand operations to Lagos State, with 300 female drivers on the waitlist eager to join the platform.

Discussing the need to create opportunities for women in the ride-hailing industry, Nkechi Abiola, founder of the Ladies on Wheel Association of Nigeria, emphasized in a May 2024 interview with Al Jazeera that, “People, both female and male, don’t really like women driving them. Even the rate of acceptance for us as commercial drivers is low. We are still fighting for that.”

Oluwafuyi, however, assured that HerRyde would return to the transportation space within a “few months,” citing a possible relaunch in the future amidst talks with investors.

“We might evolve as the market requires and for profitability,” she added.

Despite stepping down from her role as the CEO in March 2024, Oluwafuyi has trust in the company’s top executives, saying, “My co-founders will carry on with driving HerRyde. We are serving a huge market that is underserved across the country and the rest of Africa. Women’s safety is a big concern,”