Uber’s $14 ride problem in Nigeria

Temitayo Jaiyeola

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Uber spent 12 years in Nigeria and decided to leave because the market it operated in could not deliver the economies of scale required to support its future ambitions.

In 2025, Uber recorded $193.45 billion in gross bookings from 13.57 billion trips globally, according to its financial results. That works out to an average of $14.26 per reported trip.

The problem for Uber was not necessarily that Nigeria lacked demand. The value of that demand may not have been high enough to justify the investment required to continue operations. Nigerian rides were significantly cheaper than the global average Uber trip, while riders were becoming more price-sensitive, drivers were facing higher operating costs, and competition was keeping pressure on fares.

The $14 ride

Uber’s definition of gross bookings means the total dollar value, including any applicable taxes, tolls, and fees, of mobility rides, delivery orders (in each case without any adjustment for consumer discounts and refunds, driver and merchant earnings, and driver incentives), and freight revenue.

So, $14.26 is the average global gross bookings per reported trip across the three segments. Uber’s mobility rides and delivery orders were offered in Nigeria. But what did a Nigerian Uber ride look like in comparison to this?

Oluwasegun Peter, a maths graduate who recently started driving for Uber, told TechCabal that he earned *₦44,000 ($30.65) across six trips on Monday after driving for eight hours. That is about ₦7,333 ($5.11) per trip.

One of the drivers TechCabal spoke to for a video interview explained that while an hour of ride-sharing with competitors like Bolt and inDrive in Lagos can generate between ₦12,500 ($8.71) and ₦13,000 ($9.05), on Uber it can be ₦9,000 ($6.27), highlighting how the platform was more economical for…

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