Since its inception in 2018 with ride-hailing
solutions, Dubai based Yango Group has rapidly emerged as a global
digital ecosystem including mobility, e-commerce, food delivery,
fintech, entertainment, and more, across 30 countries in the Middle
East, South Asia, Latin America, Africa and Europe. It focuses on
transforming global technologies into everyday services by adapting
cutting-edge solutions for each unique market.

In a special interview with Trend,
Adeniyi Adebayo, Chief Business Officer at Yango Group, and Mushvig
Hasanov, Country Manager at Yango Azerbaijan, shared insights into
Yango’s impressive journey, its rapid expansion across emerging
markets, and the company’s forward-looking vision including
Azerbaijani market.

Hyperlocality as one of the business
development pillars

Adebayo explained that achieving scale in any business
requires a strong foundation, much like building a tall structure:
“The deeper the foundation, the more stories you can build. For
Yango Group, this rests on four key elements: capital, technology,
operations and local needs”.

Unlike many big tech companies that prioritized
developed markets, Yango Group deliberately chose a different path.
Seven years ago, the company committed to building in emerging
markets, betting on their exponential growth potential. When Yango
Ride entered Côte d’Ivoire in 2018, internet penetration was just
18%, smartphones cost roughly $1,000, and mobile internet data was
prohibitively expensive. Yet, Yango saw what others missed: the
rapid spread of Facebook and WhatsApp revealed pent-up demand for
digitalisation, while falling device and mobile data costs would
soon open the floodgates to more e-services. Today, smartphone
penetration has risen to 70% and its cost has dropped fivefold,
indeed opening up the market for explosive and rapid growth of
digital platforms.

This philosophy of finding signals in hyperlocality
has shaped Yango’s strategy and approach to market development. The
company realised that ride-hailing is just one of the touchpoints
in people’s daily lives. “The future is not in isolated services,
the real opportunity lies in building a connected ecosystem —
products that work together to make life more convenient and
efficient, designed and localized for each market”. The results
validate this thesis. Today, Yango operates in over 30
countries, enabling more than 2 million
people to earn income through its platform, and serving
over 50 million monthly users.

While many multinational companies struggle between
offering a uniform international product or adapting locally, Yango
prioritizes serving people where they are today, rather than
expecting users to adapt to a global template. For instance, in
Lima, Peru, where city zones form “mini cities” due to social
activity patterns, Yango designed mini zones within its app,
allowing partner drivers to operate only within their preferred

Another example is Pakistan, where Yango introduced a
rickshaw tariff tapping into a cultural phenomenon deeply embedded
in daily life. Rickshaws offer an affordable and flexible transport
option, especially in the country’s busy urban areas. Yango also
partnered with local artists to craft distinctive branding for the
service, featuring vibrant artwork that reflects the community’s
cultural essence. The goal was not only to promote this option but
also to honor a deeply rooted tradition while making it easily
accessible to users through the app.This approach embodies a
broader philosophy: technology and products must adapt to users’
lives, not vice versa.

Hyperlocality then isn’t just about localization, it’s
Yango’s way of turning global scale to local trust. “By embedding
into communities, respecting local context, and creating services
that feel like “our own” in every market, our goal is to build
foundations for enriching city living across the world”, says

He explained that Yango views its operations as part
of broader “city services” — how people move, pay, eat, and deliver
in urban environments. The company actively brings together
restaurants, taxi companies and transportation providers, delivery
services, digital content providers, and more, helping them
distribute through its platform. This inclusive philosophy makes
partnerships fundamental to Yango Group’s DNA.

Partnership as the bedrock of

“The company’s primary partnership is with the
countries and cities where it operates, committing capital,
innovation, and products to help digitize urban services and
improve lives” continues Adebayo. This foundational partnership
extends to governments and citizens alike, ensuring services
reflect local needs.

Yango is open to integrating its solutions directly
into city infrastructure. In Lima, Bogotá and
several other markets, Yango has partnered with local providers to
install live bus tags, allowing residents to see
in real time where buses are and when they will arrive. Since buses
remain the backbone of urban transport in these cities, especially
during rush hours, this simple integration has brought enormous
convenience. Similar projects are under discussion in
Baku and other cities.

Equally critical is Yango’s mapping and
navigation infrastructure. Far from being an internal
tool, Yango Maps is now widely used by partner taxi companies and
integrated into city systems. By investing in the
continuous local update of maps, traffic flows, and
incident reporting, Yango not only helps drivers respond
faster to road conditions but also provides cities with better
visibility on how people move.

$100 million investments and forward-looking
vision for Azerbaijani market

Yango Group has invested $100
million into the Azerbaijani market, underscoring its
long-term commitment to the country’s digital
transformation.Mushvig Hasanov, Country Manager at Yango
Azerbaijan, highlighted the company’s rapid progress since its
entry nearly three years ago: “We began with Yango
Ride, and today Yango has grown into a
super-app that streamlines everyday tasks. From
ride-hailing to restaurant and grocery delivery, logistics,
‘Navigator’ for real-time traffic routing, and ‘Transport’ for
public transit planning—everything is now available in one familiar

This investment reinforces Yango’s role as both a
technology partner and urban services
enabler, bringing global innovation while tailoring
solutions to Azerbaijan’s local needs.