Moove Hands Drivers ₦35B in Cars After Uber's Nigeria Exit
Moove built its business on a simple trade: cars in exchange for a cut of Uber earnings. Six years after putting 76 cars on Lagos roads, the company is walking away from the market it was born in. The trigger was Uber's exit on September 2, which severed the data pipeline Moove used to decide who got a car and whether they kept paying. With its future now pointed at robotaxi depots in the United States, Nigeria no longer fits the plan.
The Data Pipeline That Broke
Moove's Nigerian business worked like a lender. It relied on Uber earnings data to decide who qualified for a car and to ensure drivers kept paying. Uber was Moove's investor and its only ride-hailing partner in Nigeria. The two shared offices in Lagos, Johannesburg and Accra, and Moove said it had no plans to work with Uber's rivals, including Bolt. That exclusivity was essential. Without Uber's data, Moove lost its way to price and collect those loans. Hours after Uber's exit, Moove dropped the Uber-only rule drivers had demanded for years. That solved the drivers' problem but ended the single data stream its lending relied on.
Naira Fall and Driver Pushback
The model depended on two things Moove did not control: Uber's demand and the naira. Moove funded part of its Nigerian fleet with dollar-denominated debt while drivers earned in naira. When the naira fell, it hit Moove's pricing. In February 2023, TechCabal reported drivers paid ₦9,400 ($14.57) daily for Suzuki SUVs priced at ₦11.7 million ($18,134), while Suzuki's Nigerian retail price was ₦9.9 million ($15,344). By 2025, Moove's weekly remittance had doubled from ₦56,400 ($87) to ₦112,200 ($74) — less in dollar terms than the earlier figure. Drivers went on strike, and by November the Lagos State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress was planning a protest at Moove's office. Demand on UberGo was also thinning.
A Global Pivot Away From Nigeria
By the time Uber left, Nigeria was already a small part of Moove. In December 2024, Waymo, Alphabet's self-driving car unit, hired Moove to run fleet operations, depots and charging in Phoenix and Miami. In August, Moove raised $250 million at a $2.1 billion valuation, reporting about 42,000 vehicles in 29 cities across 13 countries and $420 million in annual recurring revenue. The new funding will finance self-driving fleets and robot-run depots the company calls Nests. Nigeria is not a destination for any Nest, because the country cannot support the self-driving technology at scale. Today's handover looks like Moove's cheapest way out — ending a years-long fight and buying goodwill.
Key Takeaways
- Moove is handing over eligible vehicles worth about ₦35 billion ($26.3 million) to drivers, with no further payment due from October 1.
- Uber's exit from Nigeria on September 2 cut off the earnings data Moove used to underwrite and collect driver loans.
- Moove's model was exposed to two risks it did not control: Uber demand and naira devaluation.
- The company's future now lies in US robotaxi depots called Nests, funded by a $250 million raise at a $2.1 billion valuation.
- Whether the handover is generous depends on how much drivers still owed on October 1 — a figure Moove has not shared.
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