In 2011, Davido, born David Adedeji Adeleke, broke into the music scene. Since then, he has established himself as one of the best Afrobeats singers in Africa and beyond. His songs have topped music charts in Nigeria, the UK, and the USA.
With four studio albums, Davido has performed in some of the world’s famed venues like New York’s Irving Plaza, and appeared on high-rating TV shows like The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. On social media, particularly TikTok and Instagram, he amassed an impressive 30 million followers.
His growth was propelled by the rising influence of the music genre, Afrobeats, which hails from West Africa and is very popular among Nigerian and Ghanaian artists. The genre is a mixture of jazz, driving drums, reggae, pop, and hip-hop.
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“I can remember when it wasn’t cool to be from Africa—people would lie and say they were Jamaican,” Davido told Forbes. “Now we have our own Billboard charts in the US and UK—that shows how serious the Western world is taking our music.”
Today, the Nigerian singer wants to expand his influence beyond music and venture into transportation. He wants to establish a ride-hailing service in a bid to empower the youth in Nigeria.
He is teaming up with CIG Motors, the African promoter of Chinese automobile company GAC Motors, to provide vehicles to licensed drivers, establishing a new ride-hailing service in Nigeria.
The effort addresses rising unemployment and economic distress in Nigeria and it also fits his approach of using his brand for social good while growing his business and music.
“I own GAC cars. I bought the utility vehicles in the past. I already know there’s a brand that’s durable and strong. We’re planning to do a Davido-Uber kind of thing. Give the cars out to the young people that don’t have jobs. Obviously, they’re licensed drivers. They’re responsible. They can get jobs. They can get paid,” he explained to Forbes Africa and CNBC Africa.
According to Forbes Africa, the vehicles, branded with Davido’s signature style, are expected to be ready in a month or two.
Meanwhile, the Afrobeats singer said venturing into entrepreneurship was not going to take his attention away from his music career.
“Shout-out to my brother Chris [Brown], we have a lot of songs together now. Joint album maybe next year sometime. I’m going to drop songs anytime this year. Maybe after that one then,” he hinted.
