Dubci, a new ride-hailing app to launch in Egypt competing UBER & Careem!

The company’s social media account show buses, bikes, boats and even helicopters.

Media reports linked the company with the Egyptian armed forces, the company denied

The story behind dubci company

Official sources told local media that Dubci’s head of human resources was a former Egyptian armed forces spokesperson, identified as Mohamed Samir, and his wife Iman Abu Talib was the company’s media adviser.

The company’s director is Taha Al-Hakeem, the former media manager in al-Sisi’s presidential campaign. Dubci’s Facebook page appeared with 6 million followers, with followers mainly based in Asia. The Facebook page was created in 2014, and shared pornographic material in 2015.

Dubci has received widespread ridicule on social media. Dubci described the criticism as black media launched by “Evil Forces”!

A comic image of social media ridiculing the company!

What is Dubci?

“Dubci is a mobile application that will allow users to book private cars, buses, yachts, helicopters and motorbikes,” the company said in a statement. Dubci pointed out that it was aiming “to carry out one million trips during its first day.”

The ride-hailing company was said to have started an “outdoor ads” campaign spread across the Egyptian capital city of Cairo, as well as the Red Sea coastal cities of Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh.

Dubci Vs UBER & Careem

Egyptian Competition Authority(ECA) issued an official notification for Uber and Careem. ECA warned the merge agreement could lead to significant impediment on effective competition in the market.”

An official source at Dubci denied recent reports that the army’s national service was owning the company.

The new local transportation company, dubbed “Dubci Smart Transport,” in an attempt to compete with the United States (US)’s Uber and it’s United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based subsidiary, Careem.

Dubci’s establishment comes in the wake of alleged “ongoing disputes” between the Egyptian intelligence services and Uber over the American company’s refusal to hand over data of its customers

Competition among private ride-hailing companies has been increasing in Egypt, however, both Careem and Uber are thought to be dominating the market. In March, Uber acquired Careem in a $3.1 billion deal. The two companies recently launched bus services to compete with local players Swvl and Buseet.

The Egyptian army’s economic and business involvement ..

The Egyptian army’s economic and business involvement has been expanding since the incumbent Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi came to power in 2014. Their involvement included the infrastructure, food, electronics, real estate, construction, transportation, and furniture manufacturing sectors.

Media reports have criticized Egypt’s army full control over the economy that impacts negatively investment climate.