Hello Abuja, your Uber has arrived.

After months of waiting…(longing really if you ask me) Uber, the private chauffeur service has made its way to the Federal Capital, Abuja. Considering that Uber announced they were hiring for both Lagos and Abuja back in May ’14 and launched in July ’14 in Lagos, it’s been a long wait…but that’s in the past now, and what’s past is past right?

With the launch, Abuja becomes the 400th city where you can use the Uber app to hail a private driver for the duration of your trip.

Speaking on the launch, Ebi Atawodi, Manager of Uber Lagos said “Uber is part of a broader evolution in transportation, it is a new and exciting platform that is changing the way we travel and shaping the future of cities across the world. Abuja is a progressive, forward-thinking city that has a need for safe, reliable and efficient transportation and we are so excited to be launching here.”

Uber’s Abuja launch is of personal interest to me, not just because I’m in Abuja a lot and there are quite a number of places where getting a cab means standing in the unpleasant Abuja sun for a bit (Jabi, I’m looking at you), but also because Abuja probably has the most proper cab (and transport) system in these parts and what’s more, they also probably have the cheapest cabs on this side of Africa as well, so naturally, I’ve wondered how Uber will fare and what they will do in terms of pricing, seeing as their relative cost (cheaper than the average cab except during surges) has almost always been a competitive advantage.

A quick look at their sample pricing for Abuja suggests that prices will be cheaper than local cabs in some cases (e.g a trip to the airport), but not others (e.g a trip within town). Even with that pricing though, there’s still plenty chance that it will catch on with the Abuja crowd as a “luxury” service – (luxury here is used in the Abuja sense of the word, meaning status symbol).

My thoughts aside, what’s an Uber launch without deals? Uber is offering 6 free rides per passenger in the between 23rd and 28th of March, you also get a few other discounts courtesy of the Abuja “Rider Zeros” which you can read about here.