Nigeria Becomes the Third African Market Uber Exits This Year

Uber exits Nigeria and Uganda as of September 2, 2026, shutting down ride-hailing in both countries and making Nigeria the third African market the company has left this year alone.

“After a thorough review, we have taken the difficult decision to wind down operations in Nigeria and Uganda, effective September 2, 2026,” the company said in a statement. Uber for Business, its corporate travel arm, is closing in both countries as well.

The shutdown ends 12 years of operations in Nigeria, where Uber launched in Lagos in 2014, and closes out roughly a decade in Uganda. Rider support channels stay open for 21 days, with Nigeria’s help center accessible through September 23, 2026.

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Why Uber Exits Nigeria and Uganda

A devalued naira and rising fuel costs squeezed margins for both the company and its drivers, making it harder to keep rides affordable while paying drivers enough to stay on the platform. Bolt, which now holds an estimated 66% of Nigeria’s ride-hailing market, and inDrive have taken riders from Uber in Lagos and Abuja by charging lower commissions and letting drivers negotiate fares directly.

“If you look closely at the unit economics of ride-hailing and the realities of operating in these markets, there is a clear mismatch,” said Ayodeji Audu, a Lagos-based mobility analyst at Future Africa, on the pressures facing ride-hailing platforms in Nigeria.

Drivers in Lagos have staged strikes over fares and commissions in 2017, 2023 and 2025. In Uganda, Uber faced the same competition from Bolt and from SafeBoda, the motorcycle-taxi app that dominates Kampala’s shorter trips, alongside compliance costs that made the smaller market harder to sustain.

Uber said the exit is “limited strictly to these two markets” and denied any connection to a separate access dispute with Nigeria’s Federal Airports Authority, calling the decision purely a business one.

How Drivers and Riders Are Reacting

The Amalgamated Union of App-Based Transporters of Nigeria said Uber left without prior notice, a transition plan, or consultation with the drivers who built the platform, and warned Bolt and inDrive to establish genuine collective bargaining with the union or “suffer the same fate.”

Reactions among drivers themselves have been mixed. Friday Ayegba, who drove with Uber for almost three years, said the platform had become an important source of income for his family. Emmanuel Ogbor, who used Uber as a side hustle, said its exit would barely affect him since he already relies more on inDrive, which he says charges a lower commission.

Bolt said Nigeria remains an important market and that it would keep serving riders and drivers while strengthening its operations. Moove, a vehicle-financing company that leases cars to drivers, has already given its Nigerian drivers permission to operate on other ride-hailing apps.

Part of a Larger Company Shake-Up

The Nigeria and Uganda exits landed the same day Uber announced it is cutting 3,300 jobs globally, about 10% of its workforce, and reducing its management ranks by 20%.

“We are removing layers, simplifying team structures, refining our global location strategy and focusing our people and investments against the biggest opportunities ahead of us,” CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told employees, according to Bloomberg. The cuts, Uber’s largest since it eliminated about 6,700 roles in 2020, are aimed at its rideshare, delivery and robotaxi divisions rather than at replacing staff with AI, a rationale other tech firms have leaned on this year, according to TechCrunch.

The Same Week, Uber Bet Big on Driverless Cars, Just Not in Africa

One day after leaving Nigeria, Uber launched a driverless robotaxi service in London on September 3, 2026, in partnership with British AI company Wayve. The service runs fewer than 20 Wayve-powered Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles and is available to UberX, Uber Comfort and Uber Electric riders at no extra cost, according to allAfrica. A licensed operator still rides along for now, pending full driverless approval from Transport for London.

London became the second European city, after Zagreb, to get Uber’s autonomous rides. “This will build credibility with consumers as well as with the government,” said Sarfraz Maredia, Uber’s head of mobility for the UK, Ireland and the Nordics.

The timing points to where Uber is putting its money. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has said the company expects robotaxi services in more than 10 countries by the end of 2026, and the September layoffs were explicitly meant to redirect investment toward its rideshare, delivery and robotaxi divisions. None of those planned robotaxi markets are in Africa, where the exits from Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania and Cote d’Ivoire have instead been driven by the cost of paying human drivers.

Uber’s Shrinking African Footprint

Nigeria and Uganda are Uber’s third and fourth African market exits in just over a year. The company left Cote d’Ivoire in September 2025 after six years there, citing competition and pricing pressure, then shut down in Tanzania in February 2026 following a dispute with regulators over fixed fares and commission caps that conflicted with its pricing model.

That leaves Uber operating in just four African countries: Egypt, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa.

Kenya shows a different way Uber has handled the same pressures elsewhere on the continent. Rather than exiting, the company cut driver service fees there from 25% to 18% in 2022 after securing a transport network license, then raised minimum fares by 10% in 2024 following driver protests over pay.

What Happens Next

Uber said it will work with affected drivers, riders and employees through the transition in Nigeria and Uganda. Drivers on both platforms are expected to move to Bolt and inDrive, with Ugandan drivers also turning to SafeBoda, the apps already positioned to absorb the market share Uber is leaving behind.