By Remi Adelowo
Fred Ofili dreads going to work. Like many Lagosians, the 26-year-old content creator lives on the mainland but works and rents camera equipment on the island – a busy district that hosts many businesses. He gets to work using the ubiquitous Lagos danfos, which are often expensive and slow.
In September 2023, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), a popular public-private metro partnership became available on Ofili’s route, coinciding with a time when the service was enjoying an upgrade. While BRTs have been in Lagos since the late 2000s, they got a refresh in 2020, as Cowry cards, a little-known product by Touch and Pay Technologies (TAP) , an even lesser-known company, was launched. In four short years, the Cowry card has become an important feature of commuting in Lagos.
The fintech is solely responsible for accepting payments on Lagos’ intracity transport system, including the BRTs and Lagos Ferries. TAP is also the payments technology provider for the recently launched the Blue and Red Lines, an intracity metro rail that stretches over 45km.
The success of cowry card in Lagos is the power of creativity and imagination at play in the state of excellence, with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu leading the charge. Cowry Card was launched in 2020 when the governor commissioned the Abule Egba-Oshodi BRT route.
The story of how this came to be is somewhat interesting. The governor had reportedly tasked the Ministry of Science and Technology to come up with a seamless payment system on a Public-Private-Partnership model for the state’s transportation system, which include light rail, ferries and BRT, that will eliminate cash payment by commuters. That was how the cowry card innovation has become part and parcel of the life of an average Lagosian. And the result has been a soar-away success.
Facts don’t lie! Between the start of August and the end of September 2023, the BRTs transported 7.4 million passengers andan additional 17,543 commuters through the ferries, collecting ride fares of nearly N2 billion during this period, according to a statement from the Lagos state government.
“One thing is clear: our electronic payment platform (Cowry) is assisting us to gather useful data, which will allow us to plan transport services to the teeming people of Lagos State”, said the Managing Director of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Abimbola Akinajo, which runs the city’s mobility services.
Stating that the Lagos State Ministry of Science and Technolgy is fulfilling its mandate to improve the life of Lagosians is putting it mildly. The ministry, charged with the responsibility to plan, devise and implement the state policies on science and technology, was established in February 2004 by then governor, President Bola Tinubu’s administration from the Office of Special Adviser on Information Technology and Special Services.
The administration had identified the use of technology as one of the most effective ways to address the difficulties of improving government service delivery while also ensuring economic and social progress.
Under the Sanwo-Olu administration, the ministry has been fully resourced and supported to make technology the cornerstone of major government policies and initiatives, transportation being one of its major planks as encapsulated in the governor’s THEME+ Agenda.
In its quest to make commuting around the metropolis more pleasurable and hassle-free, the state’s cowry card, a contactless payment technology, allows commuters to pay for bus and train rides using near-field communication.
The card retails for ₦500 in Lagos and has a wallet feature on Playstore for account top-up and airtime. The app also has a pay-with-phone feature. Most commuters top up their cards from their bank accounts or through agents.
The cowry cards have two advantages: first, it creates an easier checking-in experience, removing the rowdiness and commotion that is a feature of commuting with the danfos, while ensuring buses are less crowded. Additionally, the cowry cards, which users can fund ahead of their commute, are doubly useful as Lagos State introduces more mobility options.
In Nigeria, where railway officials have been accused of ticket scalping on federal government-run trains, digital payments reduce corruption by city transport workers. While TAP talks up its digital infrastructure, it also uses physical agents at bus terminals to sell cards to first-time users. Most card balance top-up transactions are completed in person with these same agents.
There is, indeed, no stopping Lagos State in its steady march to emerging one of the best five most liveable mega cities in the nearest future, all thanks to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s forward thinking initiatives.
