Chinese ridesharing company DiDi Chuxing has announced investment and collaboration with Taxify to support the latter's growth and innovation across in Africa and Europe.

Taxify's footprint on the African continent currently comprises the cities of Johannesburg, Durban, Lagos, Cairo, Nairobi and Cape Town. The four-year-old company says its taxi- and private car-hailing services benefit 2.5 million users in major hubs across 18 countries globally.

Markus Villig, Founder and CEO of Taxify says the company will use Didi Chuxing's backing to entrench its presence in markets on the African and elsewhere in the world.

"Taxify will utilise this partnership to solidify our position in core markets in Europe and Africa. We believe DiDi is the best partner to help us become the most popular and efficient transport option in Europe & Africa."

Taxify's new Beijing-headquartered strategic partner, boasts a wider reach around the world with its mobility services that include Taxi, Premier, Express, Luxe, Hitch accessible in more than 400 cities.

DiDi says it has leveraged AI capabilities to help cities develop integrated and sustainable smart transportation solutions since its founding in 2012. This, the company adds, is in addition to creating over 17 million flexible work and income opportunities for its driver-partners.

Will Cheng Wei, Founder and CEO of Didi Chuxing, which acquired Uber China in August 2016, is positive about Taxify's growth potential.

"Taxify provides innovative, high-quality mobility services across many diverse markets. We share a strong commitment to harnessing the power of mobile technology to satisfying rapidly evolving consumer demands and revitalising traditional transportation industry. I believe this partnership will contribute to cross-regional smart transportation linkages between Asian, European and African markets."

At the end of June Taxify celebrated a year since its arrival in Africa and announced plans to expand to "1-2 more cities by the end of the year and introduce new categories tailored for different target markets".

The company also revealed that it now has more than 10 000 registered drivers in South Africa alone.