Uber is gone. Its users must find another way around Nigeria.

“I asked why?”

That was Iyanu’s first reaction when she saw a tweet announcing that Uber was shutting down its operations in Nigeria. The video producer based in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, said she stared at the news in disbelief. The ride-hailing app had become a familiar part of how she moved around the city.

“At first, I thought it was fake news because you know how X can be,” she told TechCabal in a WhatsApp text message on Thursday.

Iyanu is not alone. For thousands of Nigerians who frequently use ride-hailing platforms, Uber’s exit after 12 years came as a surprise, raising questions about what comes next. Its departure also reshapes a market already marked by high operating costs, long-running disputes with drivers over fares and commissions, and a long list of ride-hailing companies that have failed to survive.

In an email to customers and drivers on Wednesday afternoon, Uber announced it would wind down its operations since its 2024 launch in Lagos. Drivers who spoke to TechCabal said they were worried that losing Uber would make an already difficult business even tougher.

However, the company informed active drivers it would provide a one-off discretionary “goodwill payment” as they transition from the platform.

Beyond its drivers and local employees, Uber’s departure is forcing another group of people to think about what they are losing.

Ezekiel Abayomi, a Lagos-based data analyst, told TechCabal that Uber was more than an option for getting around the state.

“I use Uber every time I am going out,” he said. “I use Uber like three times a week because I use a wheelchair and I do not have a car yet, and the buses in Lagos are not accessible for wheelchair users. So, I do not use buses.”

Abayomi has used Uber since 2021, when he moved to Lagos from Kwara, a state in North Central Nigeria.

Without access to the city’s buses, ride-hailing became his primary way of getting around. What he will miss, he said, is the certainty that the driver who arrives will take him where he needs to go.

“I think they trained their drivers to be sensible to people like me,” he said. “Uber drivers are just really nice. If I book a ride, I just don’t worry about the driver rejecting me.”

This was important because, according to him, his previous experiences on other platforms have not been welcoming.

Still, he already has plans to cope with the exit. Over the years, he said he had built a relationship with a driver he regularly calls directly when he needs to go out. For now, he plans to rely on that relationship rather than search for another app.

“Things will become even tougher for us,” Uber drivers say after Nigeria exit

Stephanie, a London-based Nigerian who returns to Abuja about once a year, told TechCabal that Uber’s exit will be easier to adjust to. She explained that the one time she used the platform, it was significantly more expensive than the other available platforms and took more time to connect her with a driver.

“I will probably use Bolt or just drive, or have a friend drive me around,” she said. “I already have the Bolt app, so it won’t be an inconvenience.”

While finding another ride may not be difficult for her, Uber’s exit could still disrupt another part of her life.

Stephanie’s business uses Uber Courier to deliver items to customers, and she said the service had become its cheapest logistics option.

“I will miss using it to deliver items to customers as it was the cheapest logistical option.”

The difference in how Abayomi and Stephanie will experience Uber’s departure is a clear picture of what the company’s exit means for its users.

For some, the adjustment may be as simple as opening another app. Nigeria still has ride-hailing options, including Bolt, which has said Nigeria remains an important market, inDrive, and local operators such as LagRide.

For users like Ayobami, who relied on the platform because it offered something he struggled to find elsewhere, the question about whether the alternatives can provide the same level of service becomes pressing.

“It’s a bit weird; it (Uber) not being available in Nigeria anymore, but… I think I (and everyone) will adapt eventually,” Stephanie added.

Uber may be leaving Nigeria, but the needs that brought thousands of people to the app have not disappeared. Nigerians will still need rides, and businesses like Stephanie’s will still need affordable ways to move goods around cities. The question is whether the companies left competing for those users can fill the gap Uber leaves behind or whether Nigerians will have to rethink how they move around altogether.

In a statement on Wednesday night, rival Bolt described Nigeria as an “important market” and said it will strengthen its operations and “create more opportunities across the market.”

Uber’s departure puts the company in a position to potentially capture drivers and riders who previously relied on its rival.

Ibrahim Ayoade, general secretary of the Amalgamated Union of App-Based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON-NG), said Uber’s exit does not automatically hand its drivers or customers to Bolt or inDrive.

The platforms, according to him, will have to compete for them, while drivers will continue to weigh fares, commissions, fuel, and vehicle costs.

“As it is now, it’s just a free market for everybody,” he told TechCabal in a telephone interview on Wednesday. “It now depends on the strategy and methodology that [other operators] can use to [claim] the share of the market.”

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