{"id":8613,"date":"2026-09-07T17:02:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T16:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techstream.africa\/?p=8613"},"modified":"2026-09-07T17:02:58","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T16:02:58","slug":"lagos-cashless-danfo-experiment-fails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techstream.africa\/?p=8613","title":{"rendered":"Lagos\u2019 Cashless Danfo Experiment Fails"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Years before Lagos began formalising plans to move its iconic yellow danfo buses toward digital payments, a startup called GONA<\/a> attempted to solve one of the city\u2019s most persistent transport problems: cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Launched in 2019 by Chinese technology entrepreneurs with experience at companies including Huawei Africa and DiDi, GONA introduced a mobile payment system that allowed passengers to pay danfo fares digitally. Its first major testing ground was the University of Lagos, where commuters used QR codes placed inside buses to pay their fares. The early results were encouraging, with the startup reportedly processing thousands of transactions daily as it expanded beyond the campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But taking the idea from a controlled university environment into Lagos\u2019 wider informal transport network proved far more difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GONA eventually expanded to commercial routes and even introduced air-conditioned buses on the Obalende\u2013Victoria Island corridor. However, the company soon encountered resistance from transport union structures and their street-level enforcers, commonly known as agberos. According to former GONA staff cited in an investigation, some drivers faced harassment, while passengers were reportedly discouraged from using the startup\u2019s buses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The startup then changed strategy. Rather than competing with the existing danfo system, GONA sought partnerships with transport unions and trained drivers to accept digital payments. It supplied smartphones to some drivers and placed agents inside buses to encourage passengers to pay through the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet another problem emerged: drivers were accustomed to cash. Some struggled to track electronic payments or demanded cash from passengers who had already paid digitally. To keep the system operating, GONA began collecting digital fares while paying drivers in cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That solution created a costly logistical problem. The company needed agents to carry substantial amounts of cash to pay drivers. According to former employees, some agents were targeted and robbed, particularly around Oshodi. At the same time, GONA faced increasing demands from transport unions and internal operational challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The startup reportedly paid union leaders weekly in an effort to secure cooperation. What began as a way to gain access to the transport network eventually became an expensive burden, as demands reportedly increased in some locations. GONA eventually scaled back operations and was left with only a limited number of active routes before shutting down during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GONA\u2019s story illustrates a crucial lesson about innovation in Lagos: technology alone cannot transform a system built around deeply established economic and political relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Lagos is again attempting to digitise danfo payments through its Bus Industry Transition Programme, working with major transport unions to bring informal operators into a more regulated system. The latest effort has the advantage of government backing and a longer-term institutional framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The failure of GONA, therefore, was not necessarily proof that cashless transport could not work. Instead, it showed that replacing cash requires more than an app. It requires trust from drivers, passengers and unions, incentives that work for everyone, and strong institutions capable of managing the interests surrounding Lagos\u2019 enormous informal transport economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the next company attempting to make Lagos danfos cashless, that may be the most important lesson of all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Years before Lagos began formalising plans to move its iconic yellow danfo buses toward digital payments, a startup called GONA attempted to solve one of the city\u2019s most persistent transport problems: cash. Launched in 2019 by Chinese technology entrepreneurs with experience at companies including Huawei Africa and DiDi, GONA introduced a mobile payment system that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techstream.africa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techstream.africa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techstream.africa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techstream.africa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techstream.africa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8613"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/techstream.africa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8615,"href":"https:\/\/techstream.africa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8613\/revisions\/8615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techstream.africa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techstream.africa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techstream.africa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}