Nigeria’s TrafficButter is a traffic reporting Mobile App developed in Android, Blackberry, and iOS. It is a platform for motorists to connect with other road users around so they can share real-time traffic and road info, saving everyone fuel money, time and beating stress on their daily journeys.
TechMoran spoke with Dele Oluwole and this is what he told us what they are up to.
Why the name?
Permit me to respond to this question in the words of Uche Okafor, the founder of TrafficButter “ ….People often wonder why I picked the name TRAFFICBUTTER? My thinking was: Since it is mostly either BUTTER OR JAM, and I hate traffic JAMS; I decided to pick the converse: traffic BUTTER”. The Idea also is that when Jam is being spread on toast, the application of butter makes it smoother and a lot easier.
What does it do? How does it work?
These are the features and how TrafficButter works
1. Geolocation feature; with the geolocation feature on TrafficButter Mobile App, finding roads have become easier. The App triangulates users locations and show them roads around so they can make informed decisions when approaching or in a traffic congestion.
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2. Following roads for auto alert messages; Users can now follow only the roads/routes that they are interested in and receive alert messages as incidents are uploaded on these routes allowing them to plan before they begin their journeys.
3. Map; every road/route with an incident is shown on a map on the Mobile App for road users to quickly ascertain what is happening on their road(s) of interest.
4. Ranking & Rewards for reporting; the more road incidents a user updates on the App, the more points they earn, and the closer they are to wining variety of promotional gifts.
5. Road search; user can do instant search for a road and get to know if there is an incident on it.
6. Chat; TrafficButter Mobile App also afford users the opportunity to socialise and meet new people on the chat page
Who are the founders? Tell us more about yourselves?
TrafficButter Mobile App is the product of the merger between TrafficButter twitter handle and JonyWaka Mobile App. Uche Okafor founded TrafficButter in 2010 and Dele Oluwole founded JonnyWaka in 2013.
What inspired you to launch a traffic application than just do any other business?
In 2010 Uche, on his way to work thought of how he could twit and share info so people could avoid Traffic Jams. Not long after he started TrafficButter. Dele watched a youtube clip on how Ghanaians go through traffic hell to commute to and from work and that was how the conception and design of JonnyWaka Mobile App started.
What do you plan to use your data for?
The traffic incident data we use are from the people and are used by the people.
Any local competition? How unique are you from the competition?
We are not in a competition of any kind. There may be organisations wanting to be like us and others offering similar but what we have done is simply look at what is lacking and added the extras to our Mobile App to make life for the Nigerian commuter loads better. TrafficButter Mobile App is a service to and for the people.
Indeed, there is a relationship between JonnyWaka New Zealand and TrafficButter Nigeria. There are other affiliations which are presently are being worked on and evolving.
How big is your team?
We have a number of people working for us and the team is growing across Nigeria, Great Britain, Ghana, and New Zealand.
Where do you expect your business to be in 2 years?
To empower Africans tackle traffic congestion so they can travel stress free. We can only achieve this by being in most African countries. We are already in Nigeria and Ghana with Kenya and South Africa in view.
Any plans to expand countrywide?
Certainly, at least to the major cities where there are usually Traffic and bottlenecks. Our goal is to be the number one African Traffic report and social App and then to reach out to other part of the world. So far, we are impressed with the reception since launching.
How is doing online business in Nigeria? Any challenges or opportunities in the Nigerian tech scene?
Just like other part of the world the Nigerian online business has its own challenges, but the potential is enormous for foreign investors.
Are you angel funded or you are bootstrapping?
We are 100% self funded.
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