Kenya’s popular interactive traffic app start up, Ma3Route, is planning to venture outside the capital Nairobi to other towns in the country before moving to other African cities like Lagos, Cairo and Kinshasa, the firm’s Chief Revenue Officer told HowWeMadeItInAfrica.

Ma3Route helps Nairobi-based motorists save on time spent in traffic by updating them on which routes are clogged and which aren’t.

Earlier in August, the startup, which was launched in 2012 by tech entrepreneur Laban Okune, come under heavy competition after global tech giant Google, in partnership with Kenya’s largest telecoms firm, Safaricom, launched a similar service, titled Waze.

“We are also looking at expansion outside Kenya in emerging cities across the globe that have infrastructure challenges, traffic issues and growing populations,” Stéphane Eboko, chief revenue officer at Ma3Route, told HowWeMadeItInAfrica.

“Many emerging cities in the world are a potential market for us. Think about Mombasa, Lagos, Cairo, Kinshasa – and even cities in India like Mumbai and New Delhi.”

Eboko estimates that Ma3Route currently serves about 300,000 users daily through its website, social media accounts and mobile app. It sends mobile text notifications to about 20,000 users daily at a small fee, which has helped it monetize the app.

It is estimated that Nairobi, which ranks among the most congested cities in the world, loses over $357 million annually in fuel consumption, pollution and lost productivity due to endless traffic jams.

The city is planning to invest nearly $600 million in a cable car project and another $1 billion on improving its road and rail transport system. But even with this huge investment for a country like Kenya, it will take a while for city commuters to adopt to using new means of transport.

For example, a recent study showed that only one percent of Nairobi residents use trains daily, despite government spending more than $3.9 million on a commuter rail project.

Mobile apps like Ma3Route and Waze are going to be key players in shifting commuters from congested roads to the rail and cable cars.

“We have built a community where people talk to each other and trust the information shared. They are using text and landmarks to navigate [traffic] as opposed to maps, which is really vital in cities where not all roads are named,” Eboko said.