Ride-hailing company Uber announced that it had ended operations in Nigeria and Uganda with immediate effect from Wednesday, Sept. 2, as the US-based company undertakes a broader restructuring of its global business, as per BBC.
The move ends Uber's 12-year presence in Nigeria, where the company launched in Lagos in 2014 before expanding to other cities. Uber entered Uganda in 2016, two years after its Nigerian launch, according to the report.
The latest exits come after Uber also withdrew from Ivory Coast and Tanzania over the past year. Following the departures from Nigeria and Uganda, Uber's operations in Africa are limited to Egypt, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa, BBC reported.
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An Uber spokesperson told BBC that the company remains committed to sub-Saharan Africa and continues to see growth and long-term opportunities in the region. During its 12 years in Nigeria, Uber expanded beyond conventional car rides and launched a boat service in Lagos in 2019 to help commuters avoid the city's severe road congestion.
Uber has not publicly disclosed a specific country-by-country reason for leaving Nigeria and Uganda. Reuters reported that the company attributed the decision to a review of its operations but did not provide detailed reasons for its withdrawal.
BBC reported that Nigerian Uber drivers have for years complained that fares on the platform were too low in relation rising fuel costs and that Uber's commissions were too high. The company also faced competition from rival ride hailing platforms in Nigeria. The market exits were announced as Uber revealed a major restructuring of its global workforce.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced plans to reduce the size of its workforce by around 10%, with reports estimating the reduction at approximately 3,300 jobs, making the move one of Uber's largest workforce reductions since the pandemic.
Uber's announcement said that the restructuring would remove organisational layers, simplify team structures, refine the company's global location strategy and concentrate employees and investments on what it considers its biggest opportunities. Uber stated that it is combining teams where fragmentation has created duplication or slowed decisions.
One major change involves bringing its Restaurants, Retail and Direct Delivery operations together under single-threaded teams at global, country and regional levels. The company is also combining its Core Services Engineering and Science teams, according to Khosrowshahi's announcement. The workforce reduction comes as Uber increases its focus on future businesses, particularly autonomous vehicles and robotaxis, according to reports.
The Financial Times reported that the company plans to use savings from the restructuring to support investments in its robotaxi strategy. Citi analysts estimated that the job cuts could generate approximately $825 million in annual savings, with Uber expected to direct some of those resources towards initiatives including autonomous vehicles.
The company is simultaneously tightening its office working policy, with reports stating that less than 1% of Uber employees are expected to remain fully remote after the upcoming changes. Uber stated that it would support employees and drivers affected by the shutdowns in Nigeria and Uganda. The company's customer Help Centre in the two countries will remain available until September 23 to deal with outstanding account-related issues, Reuters reported.
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