Is there an app for that…in Sierra Leone? (Mr. Delivery & Tap Tap)

I was just in my other home in Virginia, USA. When I got back to Salone I realized how dependent I was on small conveniences even for those short two weeks, more specifically applications and technology in general. I adapt fairly easy to any environment and so it takes me going back to the US to realize how many things we depend on that I never think about in Sierra Leone, so I made it a mission to partake or do research on these conveniences here in Salone, now my permanent residence. I’ll talk about just three types of apps or “conveniences” here in Sierra Leone and they happen to be the three things that give me the most anxiety.

I really despise shopping, whether it is groceries or for clothing and things, but I am a foodie.

While in the U.S. despite being in a typical African home where the fridge is stocked full of things, I didn’t want to eat anything and there were MANY applications I could choose from: Grub Hub, Postmates, even Uber Eats. In Sierra Leone? Other than specific restaurants that I know that deliver like Crown Xpress and Tessa’s, I didn’t know of any application where you could order food and delivered. I love staying in my house on the weekends. I am an introvert (although you won’t know it if you interact with me Monday through Friday, when I force myself to be sociable for work mostly). I love the convenience of food being delivered or even groceries, because markets give me anxiety. Anyway I was surprised to hear of Mr. Delivery. 

I was so excited to try it out! It started well. I registered myself, entered my location and BOOM! Some restaurants came up that I could order from. I was so excited. I had been meaning to try this place chicken place by Youyi building, but it seems to be a young people hangout on weekends and the one Friday I decided to go try their food, it was crowded and I just couldn’t do it. Anyway, I got all the way down to ordering my food and submitted.

Then I got to a part that said my order was on the way and the endless circle that said “processing”. I decided to see if I could get customer service. I was surprised to actually have someone pick up. She told me the app was running fine, but she’ll look into it. She asked where I was ordering from and where I want the delivery . I thought: wow! I am actually going to have a delivery. She told me to text her everything.

After I texted them, I got a response back “Ok ma.” Then 10 minutes later:

I’m very sorry ma for any inconvenience we can’t make the delivery now due to an unavoidable circumstance. Tnx for understanding 

That was the extent of me trying to find an app that can deliver. I haven’t heard of anything since.

On to the next thing that gives me anxiety in Sierra Leone-transportation. I don’t have a car (that comes with its own wahala) and in the U.S. I can Lyft or Uber or find other not so inconvenient transportation options.  I hate that I will have to take multiple transports to reach my destination and sometimes you stand in the heat for a long time if you are going somewhere that people don’t go often, especially in peak hours. Your best bet is to take Okada (motorbike).

Imagine my surprise  one day as I was scrolling through Facebook and saw someone promoting  this app called Tap Tap. They had glossy adverts and advertised themselves as a ride hailing app.

So about a week and a half ago as I was ready to go home, I thought about them. I wasn’t in a hurry and expected there to be  some issues. I really liked that it was straight forward. I registered and got to the booking page.

I loved the fact that it gave you options of different types of vehicles. This was definitely like Uber/Lyft, but contextualized for Sierra Leone. Did I want a Keke, taxi or a luxury car? Just like Uber/Lyft of course as you can see below, there are different prices. I decided to try the Keke. It said it was only 15 minutes away, but almost an hour later he finally found me where I was. The issue is that people don’t do addresses here. The driver was going by the pin and the application for whatever reason doesn’t accurately detect the pin. They are completely reliant on Google Maps and if it is not a location the app has been to before, it is pretty much useless.

Anyway we were finally on our way. After surviving traffic, we made it to my home. Then came another issue. In order to end the ride and find out what I owed them, the driver had to end it. This took forever because the system was not allowing him to. I was sitting there for at least 5 minutes.

Finally it came through and I still gave them five stars because I was excited that they were trying. The price is a bit hefty, but it was below what chartering a taxi can be, which is about 40,000 leones per hour although some will go down to 30,000. I also decided to give them a chance again another day, this time at non-peak hours and in a different direction. I was so happy that the Keke came in like 3 minutes and I reached my destination in no time!

That’s not where my story with Tap Tap ends though. It was going to get bitter fast.

Continued in next blog post.