Drivers who obtained or deployed vehicles through financing arrangements to operate on Uber’s platform in Nigeria now face uncertainty after the ride-hailing company exited the country, the drivers’ association said on Thursday.
Uber Technologies Inc. discontinued its Nigerian operations on Wednesday, September 2, ending a 12-year presence in the country as it shifts investment towards markets where it believes it can create the most value.
Uber and Moove have a partnership under which vehicles financed by Moove for drivers were deployed for use on Uber’s platform. Uber is also one of Moove’s major investors.
The arrangement meant that drivers using Moove-financed vehicles for Uber’s UberGo service had previously been required to operate exclusively on the Uber platform.
Uber’s withdrawal from Nigeria therefore left affected drivers uncertain about the use of their vehicles and how they would continue earning from ride-hailing while meeting their financing obligations.
The Amalgamated Union of App-Based Transport Workers of Nigeria told The PUNCH that Uber’s departure would require drivers who depended on the platform to migrate to competing services, particularly Bolt and inDrive. “Now they have to migrate officially to Bolt and inDrive,” the union’s Public Relations Officer, Steven Iwindoye, stated.
The union also raised concerns about vehicles financed through mobility company Moove, asking what would happen to cars acquired or deployed specifically for Uber operations now that the platform had ceased operating in Nigeria.
However, the union said the migration would take place against the backdrop of existing financial pressures on drivers, who have repeatedly complained about the cost of fuel, vehicle maintenance and other operating expenses.
The union said many drivers were struggling to maintain their vehicles. “Look at the condition of our car; many of us don’t even have money to maintain, to take care of our car,” the executive stated.
The union also argued that ride-hailing companies could not sustain their businesses by focusing primarily on market dominance without ensuring adequate returns for the platforms and viable earnings for drivers. “What is the essence of you dominating the market when you are not making profit?” Iwindoye asked.
Drivers said they had repeatedly attempted to engage Uber on issues affecting them but received little attention from the company, while describing Bolt and inDrive as more receptive to discussions and interactive sessions with drivers and their representatives.
“Bolt, inDrive, sometimes they reach out to us; we do interactive sessions,” Iwindoye said, adding that attempts to establish similar engagement with Uber had yielded little response. But on the aspect of Uber, nothing, nothing,” he said.
For Bolt and inDrive, Uber’s departure presents an opportunity to attract some of the riders and drivers who previously used the platform. But the union warned that market dominance would not necessarily address the underlying economic challenges facing the industry.
The organisation said drivers were already facing difficulties maintaining their vehicles and argued that ride-hailing platforms needed to ensure that the economics of the sector worked for both operators and drivers.
Nigeria’s ride-hailing and mobility platforms market was valued at $450m in 2025 and is projected to reach $982m by 2032, representing a compound annual growth rate of 11.8 per cent, according to Ken Research.
The market’s size and projected growth contrast with Uber’s decision to withdraw, underscoring the increasingly selective approach global technology companies are taking to capital allocation.
An Uber spokesperson disclosed the withdrawal in an email to The PUNCH on Wednesday, saying that the withdrawal was specific to Nigeria and Uganda and would not affect its other African operations.
It reiterated its commitment to sub-Saharan Africa, where it said it continued to see “robust growth and long-term opportunity”.
Uber revealed it was shifting investment towards markets where it believed it could create the most value for drivers by providing earning opportunities at scale and enabling riders to travel seamlessly.
The company said its immediate priority was to support drivers, riders and employees affected by the withdrawal, adding that it had begun communicating with active drivers and would provide them with a token of appreciation during the transition.
The Nigerian withdrawal comes as Uber undergoes a major restructuring that will cut about 3,300 jobs, representing roughly 10 per cent of its global workforce.
Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi said the restructuring was intended to make Uber simpler and faster, with the company reducing management layers and reorganising teams to operate more efficiently at its current scale.
The restructuring also reflects Uber’s focus on areas of future growth, including autonomous transportation and robotaxis, as the mobility industry prepares for the possibility of driverless vehicles altering the economics of conventional ride-hailing.
Before its exit, Uber had been less visible in its engagement with drivers than Bolt, its biggest rival. The company did not have a public relations officer in Nigeria, with its communications handled through a third-party PR firm, and also operated without a country manager.
It is unclear how many employees Uber had in Nigeria. Globally, the company has about 34,000 employees and operates in more than 70 countries, according to a recent filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Uber’s Nigerian exit follows a series of changes to its African operations. In January, the company withdrew from Tanzania following years of regulatory tensions involving fares, commissions and regulatory control.
The company also left Côte d’Ivoire in September 2025 after six years of operations. In South Africa, Uber discontinued UberX, its lower-cost service, on September 1, although it continues to operate other services in the country.
Nigeria had been an important part of Uber’s African expansion since the company entered Lagos in 2014 before expanding to Abuja in 2016.
The market has since developed into a broader mobility ecosystem involving ride-hailing platforms, drivers, fleet operators, vehicle-financing companies and businesses that use digital platforms to arrange transportation.
The union is also seeking a greater role in discussions over the future regulation of app-based transportation.
It stated that it was participating in policy discussions in Abuja involving transport commissioners, the Minister of Transportation, Vice-President Kashim Shettima, government agencies and other stakeholders.
The organisation said it had presented its proposals to policymakers and believed that the resulting policies would apply across Nigeria’s transportation sector, including ride-hailing platforms.
Uber, however, rejected any suggestion that its Nigerian withdrawal was linked to a recent directive by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria concerning e-hailing operations at Nigerian airports. The company said the decision followed its own review of business priorities and investment focus.
Economist reacts
In an interview with The PUNCH, Chief Executive Officer of Economic Associates, Dr Ayo Teriba, described Uber’s exit from Nigeria as a sector-specific regulatory issue that should not reflect on the country’s overall investment attractiveness.
Teriba criticised the government’s handling of Uber’s operations at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, arguing that restrictions and charges affecting its airport business could have contributed to its decision to leave.
“The airport or no airport issue definitely must be one of the factors. When they are in the country, but cannot do airport business, what other business will they be doing? We do not have to create a jungle-like situation and make life difficult for people,” he stressed.
The economist also questioned the impact of airport charges and the protection of designated taxi operators on Uber’s business model, saying, “And if Uber must be paying exorbitant parking fees at airports, what business will they have?”
Teriba, however, rejected suggestions that the exit represented a broader deterioration in Nigeria’s investment climate, stressing that the development remained specific to the transport sector. “This is sector-specific. And exceptions don’t prove the rule. This is exceptional,” he said.
He said authorities should investigate whether Uber’s exit could have been prevented and improve the operating environment for companies still active in the sector. “This is about those who manage that sector. The transport sector, in particular, the interface between air transport and road transport. We should not generalise it,” he cautioned.
Source: punchng.com
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