Uber ended service in Nigeria and Uganda on September 2, 2026, after earlier exits from Côte d’Ivoire and Tanzania. The company cited a review of its business priorities and investment focus across Africa, but did not give a detailed public explanation for either country. Analysts and local reporting point to the challenge of balancing affordable fares, driver earnings and platform margins; those are outside assessments, not Uber-confirmed reasons.
What happened in Nigeria and Uganda?
Uber discontinued operations in both countries effective September 2, 2026. In a customer message quoted by The Washington Post on September 3, Uber said: “After a thorough review of our business, we have made the tough decision to wind down our operations in Nigeria, effective 2 September 2026.” A Voice of Nigeria report quoted Uber’s East and West Africa communications head, Lorraine Onduru, describing the decision as part of a review of business priorities and investment focus across Africa.
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Uber said the change was limited to Nigeria and Uganda and did not affect its operations elsewhere on the continent. Its public statement did not set out separate reasons for the two departures. The company also said Nigeria’s Uber for Business service would end. Voice of Nigeria reported that rider support would remain available for 21 days after closure, and that rider information would be retained only as required by law and applicable data rules. Those were transition arrangements reported at the time, not a statement about support available now.
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How the exits fit Uber’s retreat in Africa
The September 2026 closures followed Uber’s exit from Côte d’Ivoire in September 2025 and Tanzania in 2026. Reports differ on the month Uber left Tanzania, so the available account supports the year but not a single reliable month. The sequence points to a retreat from several markets, but Uber characterized the Nigeria and Uganda decision as limited to those two countries—not as a continent-wide shutdown.
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Why might the business have become difficult?
Ride-hailing platforms have to make several sides of the same transaction work: riders need fares they can afford, drivers need enough net income to keep driving, and the platform needs to cover its operating costs. Local reporting and analysts describe a difficult balance in Nigeria and other markets, but Uber has not confirmed that this was its internal rationale for leaving.
Fares, costs and driver economics
Ikemesit Effiong, managing partner at SBM Intelligence, told The Washington Post that Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania had substantial transport demand but “wafer-thin unit economics, low average fares, high driver churn” and competitors that eroded pricing power. He also cited currency depreciation, fuel costs and subsidy changes as pressures. These are his assessment of the markets, not disclosed findings from Uber’s decision-making.
In Nigeria, The Guardian Nigeria reported concerns about petrol and vehicle-maintenance costs, platform charges and the limits of cash payment. Its reporting also described competition on rider prices and driver commissions. These observations help explain the local operating pressures; they should not automatically be applied to Uganda, where the reporting does not establish the same market-specific conditions.
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Semafor’s Alexander Onukwue argued that platforms depend on whether their incentives fit local conditions, and said conversations with drivers suggested Bolt offered better terms and threatened Uber. That is a reporter’s account of conversations, not a measured comparison of driver earnings across platforms. The Guardian Nigeria also reported that some Nigerian riders preferred Uber for safety; this was not a comparative safety study.
Uber’s spokesperson specifically said Nigeria’s exit was not related to a recent directive from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria. Airport restrictions should therefore not be presented as the cause of the shutdown.
What alternatives were reported in Nigeria?
Coverage documents competition in Nigeria, but it does not establish a current, city-by-city list of available services. The distinctions below describe what the cited reporting said, not a guarantee of present availability or a recommendation.
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| Service or feature | What the reporting says | Scope and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| inDrive | Passengers and drivers can negotiate fares, according to Semafor. | Nigeria-focused reporting; no current availability by city established. |
| Bolt | Semafor reported that Bolt allowed some vehicle models Uber had deemed too old. Reporting also described competition over rider prices and driver commissions. | These are reported differences, not a full or current comparison of eligibility rules, fares or driver earnings. |
| LagRide | The Guardian Nigeria identified it as a Lagos state-backed startup. | A local option; this does not establish service throughout Nigeria. |
| Yango | The cited reporting does not establish it as a favored substitute for Uber. | No comparable rider-preference evidence across the affected markets was established. |
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African Business reported Sensor Tower estimates for Nigeria in December 2025 of 500,000 active Uber users and 3.3 million active Bolt users. These are attributed estimates, not company disclosures, and they describe one country at one point before Uber’s exit. They do not establish why an individual rider chose one service or show preferences in Uganda, Tanzania or Côte d’Ivoire.
The Guardian Nigeria put Nigeria’s e-hailing market at an estimated $450 million in the prior year, in an article published in September 2026. That is the publication’s estimate, not an audited market-size figure. The same outlet reported that Uber had onboarded more than 7,000 drivers in Nigeria as of 2017; this historical onboarding count is not the number of active drivers when service ended.
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What the shutdown meant for riders and drivers
The Washington Post reported that some Nigerian riders and drivers received abrupt notice, including passengers who were already on trips. Uber did not state how many active drivers would be affected. One driver told the newspaper that Uber charged the highest commission among the services he used; that individual account does not establish the typical commission or driver experience.
Voice of Nigeria reported that Uber promised active drivers a token of appreciation. The Guardian Nigeria reported that drivers could move to competing apps, but the available reporting does not quantify how many did so or how their earnings changed.
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