Reported by Weng Patrick Atokor l Journalist at Weng Global
Bolt has recorded a sharp increase in driver registrations in Nigeria following Uber’s departure from the country, highlighting the immediate competitive shift in the nation’s ride-hailing market.
The reported increase comes less than two weeks after Uber ended its 12-year operation in Nigeria, leaving rival platforms including Bolt and inDrive to compete for drivers and passengers previously using the US-based company.
According to the information provided for this report, Bolt recorded a 92% week-on-week increase in driver registrations after Uber’s exit. However, Weng Global was unable to independently verify the 92% figure through a publicly accessible Bolt statement or primary company release. The figure should therefore be treated as a company-reported or industry-reported statistic unless Bolt publishes the underlying data.
Uber officially discontinued its Nigerian operations on September 2, 2026, after announcing that it had reviewed its business priorities and investment focus across Africa. The company also ended operations in Uganda but said the decision did not represent a withdrawal from the wider African market.
Uber’s departure changes Nigeria’s ride-hailing landscape
Uber entered Nigeria in 2014, beginning its operations in Lagos before expanding to other cities. Over the following years, the company became one of the most recognised names in Nigeria’s emerging app-based transportation industry.
Its departure has created an opening for competitors that already have established networks of drivers and riders.
Bolt, which entered Nigeria in 2016, has indicated that it intends to remain in the country and expand its operations. The company said Nigeria remains an important market and that it is focused on strengthening opportunities for riders, drivers and other stakeholders.
TheCable also reported shortly after Uber’s exit that Bolt and inDrive were seeking to increase their presence in the market as competitors attempted to fill the space left by Uber.
The increase in driver registrations, if sustained, would represent an important part of that transition.
For ride-hailing companies, drivers are central to maintaining service availability. More registered drivers can potentially give a platform greater capacity to handle passenger demand, although registration numbers alone do not necessarily indicate how many drivers become active or how frequently they complete trips.
Why drivers are moving between platforms
Nigeria’s ride-hailing sector has faced considerable economic pressure.
Fuel costs, inflation, vehicle maintenance expenses and currency volatility have increased the cost of operating vehicles, while drivers have continued to face pressure over fares and earnings.
The economic challenges have affected both drivers and the platforms themselves.
Al Jazeera reported that Nigerian ride-hailing drivers have faced increasing costs following fuel-subsidy reforms and changes to the naira’s exchange-rate regime. The publication also reported that drivers working across major platforms staged a strike in Lagos and Ogun in March over fares and working conditions.
These pressures have encouraged many drivers to operate across more than one platform.
A recent analysis by Obi, a California-based ride-hailing data aggregator, found that 80% of Uber drivers surveyed were already using multiple platforms before Uber’s exit was announced. The analysis also found that 45% of the surveyed drivers were using Uber alongside Bolt, while 19% were using Uber alongside inDrive.
That means Uber’s withdrawal did not necessarily leave drivers without alternatives.
Instead, many drivers were already positioned to increase their activity on competing platforms.
Bolt and inDrive face a larger opportunity
Bolt and inDrive are now among the companies with the clearest opportunity to attract Uber’s former drivers and passengers.
Their approaches to the Nigerian market differ.
Bolt operates a conventional app-based ride-hailing model, while inDrive allows passengers and drivers to negotiate fares.
Those differences have helped the companies compete for drivers and passengers in a market where affordability is an important consideration.
The Guardian reported after Uber’s exit that Bolt, inDrive and other operators had been competing aggressively in Nigeria, with the country’s ride-hailing market estimated at about $450 million in 2025.
Punch subsequently reported that Bolt and inDrive were positioning themselves to capture a larger share of the market following Uber’s departure. The publication said Bolt was relying on its existing driver network and operations rather than having to build a Nigerian presence from scratch.
For Bolt, the reported rise in driver registrations therefore comes at a strategically important moment.
Registration growth does not automatically mean active drivers
The 92% figure requires some context.
A rise in registrations measures people entering or beginning the registration process. It does not necessarily mean that all those drivers have completed onboarding, passed verification requirements, become active on the platform or started accepting trips.
This distinction matters because the real competitive impact of Uber’s departure will depend on active drivers, passenger demand, completed trips, earnings and retention.
Bolt’s ability to absorb additional drivers could also depend on the level of demand in individual cities.
A large increase in drivers without a corresponding increase in passenger bookings could potentially create greater competition among drivers for available trips.
Conversely, if large numbers of former Uber riders also move to competing platforms, additional drivers could help those platforms maintain availability and reduce waiting times.
Uber’s exit was not officially blamed on Bolt
Although competitors stand to benefit from Uber’s departure, Uber itself did not identify Bolt or inDrive as the specific reason for leaving Nigeria.
The company said its decision followed a review of its business priorities and investment focus across Africa. Reuters reported that Uber did not provide a specific reason for the Nigerian withdrawal.
Other explanations have emerged from analysts and industry participants.
Punch reported comments from technology expert Femi Bejide, who linked Uber’s departure partly to competition and changes in the Nigerian market. His assessment was presented as an external analysis rather than an explanation officially provided by Uber.
A separate analysis published by Obi examined more than 20,000 trips and argued that the economics of some Uber journeys in Nigeria had become difficult to sustain. The report said Uber sometimes paid drivers more than passengers were charged for shorter trips and that Nigerian drivers completed substantially fewer trips than drivers in South Africa.
Those findings provide additional context, but they do not establish that any single factor caused Uber’s decision.
A changing market for Nigerian drivers
For Nigerian drivers, the change could create both opportunities and challenges.
The expansion of competing platforms could give drivers more choices and potentially allow them to move between services depending on demand, fares, commissions and operating conditions.
At the same time, a larger number of drivers competing on the same platforms could make it more difficult for individual drivers to secure enough trips to maintain their earnings.
The economics of ride-hailing therefore remain central to the future of the industry.
Drivers must account for fuel, vehicle maintenance, insurance and other operating costs before determining how much they actually earn from completed trips.
The experience of Uber also demonstrates that having a large international brand does not necessarily guarantee long-term sustainability in a difficult local operating environment.
What happens next?
The immediate question for Nigeria’s ride-hailing industry is whether Bolt and inDrive can convert the opportunity created by Uber’s departure into sustained growth.
For Bolt, the reported 92% increase in driver registrations provides an early indication of heightened interest in the platform, but the more significant measurements will be the number of drivers successfully onboarded, their activity levels and the volume of trips completed.
Passenger behaviour will be equally important.
If former Uber users migrate in significant numbers to Bolt, inDrive and other platforms, competition for passengers could intensify. Companies will also have to maintain service quality, safety and reasonable economics for drivers.
Nigeria’s ride-hailing market is therefore entering a new phase in which competition is no longer primarily about attracting users away from Uber. It is increasingly about determining which platforms can build sustainable relationships with drivers and passengers under difficult economic conditions.
Uber’s exit has created immediate space for competitors, but the long-term winners of that shift will ultimately depend on how successfully each platform responds to Nigeria’s changing transportation and economic environment.
For now, Bolt’s reported surge in driver registrations is one of the clearest early indicators that Uber’s departure is already changing the structure of the market.
Weng Global – Stories beyond borders
Sources
- Reuters — Uber’s exit from Nigeria after 12 years.
- Channels Television — Uber’s announcement ending its Nigerian operations.
- The Guardian Nigeria — Analysis of Uber’s exit and Nigeria’s e-hailing market.
- Punch — Analysis of the market opportunity following Uber’s exit.
- TheCable — Bolt and inDrive’s response to Uber’s departure.
- Al Jazeera — Economic pressures facing ride-hailing in Nigeria.
- Obi — Analysis of Uber trip-level data and driver activity.
