Uber quit Nigeria and Uganda; its $100 million bet Moove now runs Waymo's robotaxi fleets
Uber switched off Nigeria and Uganda on September 2 and has now lost four African markets to cheaper rivals. The money question is what it funded on the way out: a $100 million check into Moove, which now runs Waymo's robotaxi fleets while Uber backs Wayve in London.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
The exit arrived by Instagram post
Kayode Emmanuel had driven for Uber+1.65% — Uber, up 1.65 percent today for six years when the requests stopped coming outside the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja. He toggled airplane mode off and on. Then his wife called: an Instagram post said Uber had shut down in Nigeria, effective immediately. "No notice, nothing," he said. On Bolt~$2B — Bolt, private, latest valuation ~$2B and inDrive since, his weekly income has fallen by a third 1.
Four markets in a year, lost on fare
Uber switched off Nigeria and Uganda on September 2, after Tanzania and Ivory Coast in the previous twelve months 12. The drivers' union counted at least 50,000 Nigerians earning on the app 1. The war was settled on price: Uber's cheapest Johannesburg trip cost 50 rand against Bolt's 39; in Nairobi, 273 shillings against 220 1. Bolt now covers eight African countries to Uber's six, with more than a million drivers and couriers 2, and the exits came inside a broader restructuring that cut about a tenth of Uber's workforce 8.
Uber's cheapest trips ran 14 to 24 percent above Bolt in Africa's price war
- Uber
- Bolt
Data
| Uber | Bolt | |
|---|---|---|
| Johannesburg | 50 | 39 |
| Nairobi | 273 | 220 |
The $100 million that left with Uber
Uber's own capital walked out with the drivers. Moove, the Lagos startup built on financing cars for Uber drivers, took a $100 million Series B from Uber in March 2024 3. On October 8 it said it is leaving Nigeria too: eligible drivers keep vehicles worth $23.3 million with no further payment, while Moove exits more than 9,000 customers and a platform book that generated about $38 million of revenue 34. Neither company named a Nigeria-specific reason 3.
Uber's $100M sits mid-trail in the money that carried Moove from Lagos to Waymo
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Seed 2020 | $5.5M |
| Series A 2021 | $23M |
| Series A2 2022 | $105M |
| 2023 equity and debt | $76M |
| Series B 2024, Uber | $100M |
| Series C 2026 | $250M |
A day later, robotaxis in London
The day after Nigeria went dark, Uber put Wayve's 15 supervised robotaxis on its London app, the first in Britain 6. Uber is a return investor in Wayve's $1.2 billion round, with up to $300 million more contingent on deploying robotaxis in London 7. Waymo is testing about 100 vehicles in the same city 7, and Moove runs Waymo's fleets in Phoenix, Miami and Las Vegas, with London next 5. Uber's stake now sits inside its chief autonomy rival's operating stack.
Committed to Africa, and being probed out of it
Uber says the region still works: more than a billion trips, over $300 million pledged to South Africa, and a ride-hailing market forecast to grow about 30 percent to $3.25 billion by 2031 1. Nigeria's competition regulator, the FCCPC, opened a probe on September 6 into the manner of the exit, citing unfulfilled services to customers 8; whether any sanction can reach a business no longer operating locally is unclear 1.
What to watch
Whether the FCCPC probe produces anything beyond statements, and whether Moove's London fleet contract lands while Uber's Wayve cars carry its riders. Uber did not leave mobility. It left the drivers.
Deepdive
AI-generated from this story and its cited sources. Not investment advice.
