Bankole Cardoso

Cardoso was born in Lagos to a banker, Afolabi Emmanuel Cardoso, and a medical doctor, Ameyo Adadevoh.^[3] He received his mother’s posthumous award in 2014 at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, after she was honored by Women in Management, Business, and Public Service (WIMBIZ).^[7] His father belongs to the Amaro community of Lagos, while his mother was a descendant of a long line of prominent Nigerians that began with King Abiodun. He attended Corona School, Ikoyi for his primary school, and Grange Secondary School, both in Lagos, before going to Rugby School^[8] in the United Kingdom for his GCSE and A-Levels. Afterwards, he moved to the US for his University education, attending Boston College (BC), to study Accounting and Business Management and graduated in 2010. Cardoso continued his education in the United States earning his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2018.

He moved to New York City to work with Carlyle Group and as an associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), where he earned his CPA (Certified Public Accountant) credentials.^[9]

Cardoso started Easy Taxi in Nigeria in 2013 because he wanted a simple way to aid commuting in Lagos. He also mentioned that he hoped to standardize pricing of taxis around the country. Easy Taxi under his watch grew to be one of the most used taxi hailing apps in Lagos as well as Abuja . Easy Taxi is a free smartphone application that allows users to request taxis in the easiest way possible. The app uses GPS to connect users to the drivers closest to them and then sends the user the drivers’ information and allows the user to track the driver on the map in real time. Present in 30 countries, Nigeria was the first country to launch it in Africa and currently has a network of over 400 drivers in Lagos with services extended to Abuja.^[10]

Although still affiliated with the company, he stepped down as the CEO in January, 2015 ^[11]