The Nigerians have triggered extreme price hikes on Bolt in Cape Town and Johannesburg, leaving many South Africans stranded because rides are unavailable or too expensive.

The long-standing rivalry between Nigeria and South Africa escalated on Thursday when citizens of both countries attacked each other by ordering e-hailing rides from rival countries and then canceling the orders once the drivers arrived at the pickup location.

The digital war is reportedly linked to a recent rivalry between Nigeria and South Africa, sparked by the withdrawal of beauty model Chidimma Adetshina from the Miss South Africa beauty pageant. She faced backlash and xenophobic attacks over a nationality dispute and opted to compete for the Miss Universe Nigeria title instead.

In addition, the virtual ride-or-die game has raised questions about the security measures that ride-sharing platforms such as Uber and Bolt have put in place to prevent fraudulent bookings.

Yahaya Mohammed, Nigerian Country Manager for Bolt, said: “Bolt is aware of the incident involving fake ride requests between individuals in Nigeria and South Africa.”

“We have successfully taken action to resolve the issue of fake ride requests affecting our driver partners, particularly those operating in Nigeria and South Africa. The integrity and security of our platform, for both driver partners and riders, is our highest priority.”

What began as a light-hearted digital dispute between the two countries has some economic implications.

The bright side is that the ongoing controversy could prompt people to sign up for e-hailing accounts just to get in on the action, even if they don’t really need the service at the moment.

But there is not all good news. The sudden flood of ride requests can put a strain on operations and lead to a deterioration in service quality and user satisfaction.

This could cause some riders to switch to other apps due to exorbitant prices or unreliable rides, which could harm the platform’s long-term customer base.