Uber Has Left Nigeria. What Is Driving Businesses Away?

Uber Has Left Nigeria. What Is Driving Businesses Away?

For 12 years, Uber’s familiar cars moved through Lagos and Abuja, carrying passengers to offices, airports, homes and countless destinations in between.

Now, the rides have stopped.

The American ride-hailing giant has ended its operations in Nigeria, leaving behind drivers, employees, passengers and business partners to adjust to a new reality.

Uber’s departure has also reopened a much bigger conversation: what does the exit say about the environment in which businesses operate in Nigeria?

The company entered Lagos in 2014 and expanded to Abuja in 2016. Over the years, its name became part of the country’s growing ride-hailing culture.

Its sudden departure has therefore landed like a stone in still water, sending ripples far beyond the passengers who once depended on its platform.

Was the airport dispute the final straw?

One event has repeatedly surfaced in conversations about Uber’s departure.

On July 30, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) directed airport managers to prevent Uber and Bolt from conducting commercial operations at airports under its management until licence agreements were finalised.

The directive was followed by complaints from travellers over higher transport costs at airports.

On August 27, Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister Festus Keyamo intervened and directed FAAN to address the concerns.

Bolt was subsequently cleared to resume airport operations.

Uber, however, rejected the suggestion that the FAAN dispute was responsible for its departure.

The company said its decision was unrelated to the airport directive.

It explained that it was concentrating its investment on markets where it believed it could create the greatest value for drivers and riders.

“Uber remains deeply committed to Sub-Saharan Africa,” the company said, adding that it continued to see growth and long-term opportunities across the region.

The company also promised assistance for affected employees and said it had contacted active drivers as they prepared for the end of its Nigerian operations.

For passengers and drivers, however, the distinction may matter less than the outcome.

A major international platform that had operated in Nigeria for more than a decade is gone.

A business climate under the microscope

Uber’s exit has now become ammunition in a wider argument over Nigeria’s business environment.

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) accused the Federal Government of creating conditions that were making it increasingly difficult for businesses to survive.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party linked Uber’s departure with the closure or reduction of operations by several other international companies.

The party described Nigeria as becoming a “graveyard of businesses” under President Bola Tinubu, arguing that the government’s economic claims did not match the difficulties confronting companies and ordinary Nigerians.

The ADC also questioned the significance of a reported 0.2 percentage-point improvement in GDP growth when, according to its claim, businesses were shutting down and Nigerians were facing rising living costs.

The party cited a Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria report which it said showed that 767 manufacturing companies, including 20 global brands, had shut down or ceased operations in Nigeria since 2023.

The ADC mentioned companies including Microsoft, Jumia, Pick n Pay, Shoprite, GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis, Bayer, Procter & Gamble, Unilever and PZ Cussons.

These claims form part of the political debate surrounding Uber’s exit and should not be confused with Uber’s own stated reason for leaving Nigeria.

‘The environment is hostile’

Entrepreneur Gbolahan Olusegun offered a different interpretation.

He argued that the rising cost of doing business had gradually squeezed Uber and its drivers.

According to him, the removal of the fuel subsidy increased transport costs, while expensive transportation reduced the number of passengers drivers could attract.

He said the pressure eventually affected the relationship between drivers and the company.

“The main issue that pushed Uber out of Nigeria is the hostile business environment,” Olusegun said.

He also pointed to the FAAN airport directive as what he regarded as the final blow.

Uber itself, however, has not identified the FAAN directive as the reason for its departure.

That difference leaves room for an important distinction: the economic pressures facing businesses may be real, while the specific reason for Uber’s exit remains the company’s own stated business decision.

Behind corporate announcements are people whose lives are less easily packed into a press statement.

There are drivers who depended on trips for income.

There are employees whose jobs have disappeared or changed.

There are businesses that used Uber for transportation.

There are passengers who must now reconsider how they move around the cities.

Uber said it would support affected workers during the transition and provide assistance to active drivers.

It also said its Uber for Business service would be discontinued and that it would communicate with its business partners.

The company further stated that users’ data would continue to be handled according to applicable privacy and data-protection requirements.

But the wider economic question remains.

If international companies leave, scale down or suspend operations, what happens to the jobs, investments and services they once provided?

And if the cost of energy, transportation, foreign exchange and other business inputs continues to rise, how much pressure can companies absorb before Nigeria becomes commercially unattractive to them?

Perhaps that is why Uber’s departure has attracted attention beyond the ride-hailing industry.

It is not merely about an app disappearing from phones. It is about the relationship between companies and the country in which they operate.

It is about regulation and investment. It is about the cost of keeping vehicles on Nigerian roads.

It is about workers trying to hold on to their livelihoods while businesses try to remain profitable.

And it is about whether Nigeria can create conditions in which existing companies can survive while new ones are encouraged to enter.

Uber has left, but the debate it has triggered is still very much on the road.

The bigger question now is not simply why did Uber leave?

It is what lessons will Nigeria draw from its departure?