Imagine you’re sitting in the back of an Uber when both your and the driver’s apps close without warning. You each try to restart them, but they won’t connect. What do you both do? Well, thousands of people apparently learned the answer to this question in real-time yesterday, as Uber pulled out of both Nigeria and Uganda without warning.
As reported by Newsbytes, Uber’s decision to withdraw from both African countries wasn’t preceded by an official announcement, though similar withdrawals from international markets were given weeks of advance notice.
As such, Uber drivers and their passengers were left in the lurch as they experienced what’s been dubbed “the Uber rapture.” As one person who purported to be a passenger put it: “Driver and I were so confused“. She was asked what happened then: “The current ride continued. Then we wanted to book immediately, it said no rides. On the drivers end, it could receive nothing.
“Driver and I were so confused”
Tech observers are shocked. Gergely Gross, a writer and (as per his X bio) former Uber employee, said: “Ok, THIS is wild, never expected anything like this: Uber exited Nigeria… no warning, just shut down the app, on the spot. When riders were mid-trip ?!! This is what a startup that just went bankrupt would do, not a $150B corporation. Uber operated in Nigeria since 2014 (!!)”
Orosz later underlined how unusual this sudden shutdown was, saying that in previous instances of Uber exiting a market they “gave a few weeks of heads up, then shut down, paid drivers + offboarded, closed operations No idea why it would not follow the “usual” playbook.”
Techcabal has spoken to several understandably dismayed Uber drivers now worried about their finances. They quote one as saying, “The reason I bought this car was to use it as an Uber ride. I am a foundation member. This exit will really affect my income”, another said, “This is all I do to put food on my table. I didn’t even know of the shutdown until you brought it to my notice and I checked my mail and saw that it was true” and a third that “I cannot accept it. What do they expect me and my family to do? How do they expect us to feed?”
The report also quotes Uber as saying, “Uber’s decision to discontinue operations in Nigeria was made following a review of its evolving business priorities and investment focus across Africa” and that the company will provide drivers with a one-off “goodwill payment”, though it underlines that this does not mean the drivers should be legally considered anything other than “independent contractors”.
Published: Sep 3, 2026 04:10 am