<\/p>\n
Kayode Emmanuel was parked outside the biggest hotel in Nigeria\u2019s capital, the Transcorp Hilton Abuja, waiting for ride requests on his Uber Technologies Inc app.<\/p>\n
When none came, he did what many Nigerians do when faced with patchy internet: he toggled his phone\u2019s airplane mode off and back on.<\/p>\n
Then his wife called. She\u2019d seen an Instagram post saying the ride-hailing firm had ceased operations in the country with immediate effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo notice, nothing \u2013 just like that, Uber just left,\u201d said Emmanuel, who had\u00a0been a driver using the app for six years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a harsh exit.\u201d<\/p>\n
The world\u2019s biggest ride-hailing company on 2 September said it was shutting off services in Africa\u2019s most populous country, as well as in Uganda. The abrupt withdrawals followed exits from Tanzania and Ivory Coast over the previous 12 months.<\/p>\n
Read: Uber Nigeria partner raises $23m to lend to drivers<\/p>\n
In Nigeria alone, at least 50 000 drivers used the app and the income from it to support their families and to pay off car loans, said Ayoade Ibrahim, the general secretary and co-founder of the\u00a0Amalgamated Union of App-Based Transporters of Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very big disaster,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cEvery worker has many people eating from his job.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Traffic in Lagos Photographer: Bloomberg\/Bloomberg<\/p>\n
Uber\u2019s retreat highlights a challenge confronting many multinational companies drawn to Africa by its high-growth economies and the youngest and fastest-growing population of any continent. Those attributes haven\u2019t automatically translated into the large, affluent consumer class that many businesses need to thrive.<\/p>\n
In Uber\u2019s case, despite Nigeria\u2019s population of 238 million, the number of people who could actually afford its prices was too small to sustain the business.<\/p>\n
Across much of the continent, low disposable incomes mean companies need to keep prices down even as they grapple with high operating costs, volatile currencies and difficult business environments.<\/p>\n
Read: Nigeria\u2019s biggest city to ban motorbike taxis in boost to Uber<\/p>\n
\u201cAffordability is important in African mobility markets,\u201d said Deepesh Thomas, Uber\u2019s general manager for sub-Saharan Africa and Morocco. \u201cRider affordability and driver economics are interconnected. A marketplace needs to work for both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n
That tension has been acute for Uber, which built its African business partly around a narrative of higher vehicle and safety standards even as it competed in markets where consumers are intensely price sensitive.<\/p>\n
Cheaper rivals<\/p>\n
Rivals offering cheaper fares and more flexible terms for drivers have challenged that model.<\/p>\n
But the market is difficult even for home-grown operators: Moove, the Nigerian-founded mobility startup that started in 2020 and is valued at $2.1 billion, on 8 October announced plans to exit the African country.<\/p>\n
The firm built much of its early success by supplying vehicles to drivers on Uber\u2019s local platform.<\/p>\n
After starting its African operations in Johannesburg in 2013, Uber entered Nigeria and Egypt the next year followed by Kenya and Morocco in 2015. Uganda, Ghana and Tanzania were next in 2016 and Ivory Coast in 2019. As it expanded, it promoted safety as one of the advantages of its service.<\/p>\n
Alon Lits,\u00a0Uber\u2019s general manager for sub-Saharan Africa in 2014, said at the time that the entry into Nigeria was the beginning of an expansion drive.<\/p>\n
Those distinctions can be tough to monetise in markets where price is often the top consideration.<\/p>\n
In the world\u2019s poorest continent, many riders opt for cheaper services, opening the door for competition from international rivals such as inDrive, Bolt Technology OU and Yango, as well as local competitors.<\/p>\n
Read: Bolt vs Uber: Zoning in on e-hailing car standards<\/p>\n
While prices charged by Uber and Bolt are set by algorithms that weigh demand, weather conditions and traffic, Bolt fees are generally cheaper. The cheapest fare offered by Uber for a 3.2-mile trip in Johannesburg at 7:45 pm on 6 October was R50 ($3) while on Bolt it was R39.<\/p>\n
In Kenya, a similar-length trip in Nairobi in a small car the next day cost 273 shillings ($2.10) compared with 220 shillings on Bolt. In Nigeria, Uber has switched off its app so it was impossible to make a comparison. inDrive allows drivers and riders to negotiate the price between them.<\/p>\n
Safety is the \u201cbig differentiator that Uber has,\u201d\u00a0said Justin Suttner, general manager for sub-Saharan Africa for AURA, a company that runs an emergency-response platform for Uber drivers in Kenya and South Africa,\u00a0saying that the tracking and response services deployed by Uber are superior even as rivals spend more to catch up.<\/p>\n
In a November 2025 survey of e-hailing drivers, the City of Johannesburg said\u00a0 Bolt drivers \u201care more prone to hijacking, unlike Uber, which has extra safety features\u201d.<\/p>\n
Bolt said \u201csafety is central\u2019\u2019 to how it operates and it\u2019s spending \u20ac100 million ($113 million) globally on security measures between 2024 and 2027. It said it carries out driver verification, vehicle inspections and operates an emergency assist service. inDrive didn\u2019t respond to queries.<\/p>\n
In its time operating in Africa, Uber has had to deal with drivers negotiating higher fares off its platform and an overnight threefold increase in fuel prices in Nigeria following the removal of a subsidy in 2023. It has also at times struggled to repatriate profits.<\/p>\n
ADVERTISEMENT:<\/p>\n
CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n
\u201cUber\u2019s market was eaten into by inDrive and Bolt,\u201d which offered cheaper services and less rules for drivers, said Damilola Olokesusi, the co-founder of Nigerian shared ride-hailing company Shuttlers, adding that her firm expects to profit from Uber\u2019s exit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe market is very price-sensitive\u201d as rentals and food costs increase, so people want to pay less, she said.<\/p>\n
Now Talinn, Estonia-based Bolt, which brought its services to the continent in 2016, operates in eight African countries compared with Uber\u2019s six. The more than a million African drivers and couriers on its platform represent a quarter of its global partner base.\u00a0Uber, inDrive and Yango have not published the number of drivers they have on the continent.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to consider payment behaviour, vehicle access, consumer affordability,\u201d said Simo Kalajdzic, the head of Bolt\u2019s South African operation. \u201cWhile the platform is global, the model has to be local.\u201d<\/p>\n
Africa-wide surveys of more than 19 000 people by Barcelona-based Sagaci Research in 2023 and 2024 showed that Bolt was already pulling ahead of Uber with consumers naming Bolt as a preferred ride-hailing app over Uber in five of the seven countries in the region in which they both operated at the time.<\/p>\n
Bolt led all rivals in five of the 10 biggest markets in Africa.<\/p>\n
The survey also showed that those with higher incomes were more likely to use ride-hailing apps, meaning a bigger market for the services in the richer countries in which Uber still operates.<\/p>\n
Read: Ride-hailing contributes to income stability for SA gig workers<\/p>\n
In many countries, there just aren\u2019t enough people willing or able to pay to ensure their safety and for better maintained vehicles, said Charlie Robertson, chief economic adviser at Kenya\u2019s Equity Group Holdings Plc.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy guess is Uber\u2019s addressable middle-class market starts at about $2 500 gross domestic product per capita and Nigeria and Uganda are below that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
South Africa has an estimated GDP per capita this year of $7 500, according to the International Monetary Fund, while Kenya, at $2 700, is now the lowest of the African countries in which the company operates.<\/p>\n
Uber, like other multinational companies before it, may have confused rapidly expanding economies in Africa with increases in individual wealth, he said. High population growth keeps income levels modest.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
And for many riders, cost is crucial.<\/p>\n
\u201cUber got very expensive, especially during the price spikes that are caused by Lagos traffic,\u201d said Obong Scott, a 27-year-old digital marketer in Nigeria\u2019s economic capital.<\/p>\n
ADVERTISEMENT:<\/p>\n
CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n
\u201cMe and my friends moved to Bolt and inDrive even though they had less comfortable cars than Uber. The Uber prices were not funny, especially when you have a budget.\u201d<\/p>\n
In markets where still operates such as\u00a0South Africa, Uber\u00a0is facing\u00a0cut-price competition.<\/p>\n
In Johannesburg, Bolt launched a low-cost service using the Bajaj Auto Ltd\u2019s Qute, a 9.9-kilowatt gasoline quadricycle. San Francisco-based Uber sought to counter that late last year with a 35-kilowatt Chinese electric car that costs more than twice as much.<\/p>\n
Despite the challenges, India\u2019s Mordor Intelligence estimates Africa\u2019s ride-hailing market will expand almost 30% between 2025 and 2031 to $3.25 billion, driven by urbanisation and rising smartphone adoption.<\/p>\n
Read: Bolt expands\u00a0South\u00a0African operations to small towns<\/p>\n
For drivers, the exit from Nigeria has been devastating, according to Ibrahim. Due\u00a0to paperwork, many former Uber drivers are yet to transition to other apps. For those who have succeeded, their earnings have dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing beats Uber,\u201d said Abuja\u2019s Emmanuel, who has now signed up to both Bolt and inDrive but has still seen his weekly income fall by a third. \u201cThese other apps have a long way to go.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s sudden exit has provoked a backlash.<\/p>\n
On 6 September, Nigeria\u2019s Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Commission said it will probe the departure and Ibrahim\u2019s union has approached the labour ministry and may take the issue to the country\u2019s national industrial court that deals with labour issues.<\/p>\n
While Uber has retained a presence in Nigeria through a local unit of its Delivery Hero food-delivery business, it\u2019s unclear whether any sanctions can be levied against the company.<\/p>\n
Thomas maintains that despite leaving Nigeria, Uber is committed to Africa,\u00a0pointing\u00a0to the more than a billion trips undertaken in the region using the platform and a pledge to invest more than $300 million in South Africa.<\/p>\n
But for many potential customers, there\u2019s simply no choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI only have Yango and Bolt \u2013 I don\u2019t have Uber,\u201d Joseph Appiah, a Ghanaian university researcher, said of the apps on his phone that he uses to summon drivers. \u201cThey charge the cheapest price.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 Bloomberg<\/p>\n
#Uber #retreats #Africa #cost #comfort #safety<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kayode Emmanuel was parked outside the biggest hotel in Nigeria\u2019s capital, the Transcorp Hilton Abuja,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[2364,4387,225,17373,214,2310],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18505"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18505\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}