For many years, travelers were not welcomed particularly warmly to Nigeria when they landed, but were instead greeted by the bluntly stating "This is Lagos" sign outside the airport. An ominous warning of the obstacles and dangers that awaited those who ventured to the megacity on the Atlantic coast. The extortionate taxi drivers at the terminal certainly belonged to these hardships.
The principle for a taxi trip in Lagos used to be that you didn't agree on a destination, but a time. You were only billed per hour started and because of the nightmarish traffic, a trip started with a minimum bill of three hours, regardless of how far you were going to travel. And no matter how far or how long one went, and no matter how clear the settlement was, most trips ended in a fight over the price.
Nigeria may have been extreme – as is often the case in comparisons across the continent – but elsewhere, too, the old taxi market left much to be desired. In the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, there were hardly any taxi exchanges, instead you went with different networks of drivers. One person was one's main driver who was called first - if he couldn't take the drive, he sent a cop who was on the right side of town.
Uber's entry changed everything. For customers, the price picture became more accurate and predictable, availability increased, and not least female passengers appreciated the security that the driver was registered and controlled by an international company.
The riders who did not want to adapt to a new business model, with lower prices but more rides, often took battle against Uber. In several African countries, there were reports of traditional riders attacking – and in individual cases killing – Uber colleagues.
In addition, conflicts arose with regulatory authorities. The risk of tax money disappearing abroad was understandable - but not infrequently it was about the fact that an international company was more difficult to skirt informally than individual local riders. Uber has often received poor placements at airports in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, despite the fact that it is the app that most travelers already have on their mobile phones.
As recently as the end of August, Uber and other digital taxi companies found themselves in conflict with the Nigerian airport authority, which wanted to force them to register in a special app. Allegations of corruption have arrived like a letter in the mail. But this is not said to have been the reason for Uber's exit from Nigeria which was announced on Wednesday.
Basically, it's about the other rat getting the cheese. It was Uber that took the hit as the first actor. But once they changed the market, a flurry of international and local players took up the competition.
The void left by Uber will be immediately filled by Bolt, Indrive and Rida in Nigeria. Bolt is also present in Uganda, another market that Uber is pulling out of, and there are apps that have niched themselves against motorcycle taxis, such as Safeboda.
More worrying is that a player in a premium segment (in a Nigerian context) does not believe in the country as a future market. Nigeria had around 180 million inhabitants when Uber entered the country. Twelve years later, Nigeria has grown to nearly 250 million. Although the competition is growing, the pie of customers is also growing explosively.
