Uber shuts operations in Nigeria and Uganda with immediate effect • Hacker News Board

Re: Uber shuts operations in Nigeria and Uganda with immediate effect

#51

Post by apsurd » Thu, Sep 03, 2026, 1:23 AM UTC

33MHz-i486 wrote: post #50

has Uber had a positive ROI on the billions invested in it? I am pretty sure the return on the preferred price from the late rounds 10 years ago is basically zero. Net income has always been negative or close to zero. From a consumer perspective, in late stage cities, uber rides are the same or more expensive than old taxis, and the quality of vehicles is lower. what was it all worth?

at $156B market cap someone sure is making money.

I've no say in the manner in which they ran/run their business but judging a mega-corporation on lemonade-stand level accounting is a fool's errand.

Re: Uber shuts operations in Nigeria and Uganda with immediate effect

#52

Post by augment_me » Thu, Sep 03, 2026, 1:23 AM UTC

tristanj wrote: post #7

Makes sense, Uber's 30-50% cut is far too much. How can they compete with inDrive which only takes 10%. And on inDrive you set your own fare. Rides are 20-40% cheaper elsewhere, why would anyone pay extra for Uber?

People like the knowledge that they are not being ripped off by the person they are interacting with. On Uber you are essentially guaranteed that you are paying the absolute max that you would accept algorithmically, and the driver is getting the absolute least they would accept to drive for. If the balance shifts in any way, someone is ripping off the person they will interact with.

Since the customer knows less about how much things should cost, they are more likely to be ripped off. People pay a 30% premium to ensure that they dont feel ripped off alone.

Re: Uber shuts operations in Nigeria and Uganda with immediate effect

#53

Post by bdangubic » Thu, Sep 03, 2026, 1:26 AM UTC

tclancy wrote: post #35

jojobas wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A taxi to the airport in Melbourne was >AUD100 from where I am more than 10 years ago. An Uber is ~AUD70 still, past all the subsidies.

Yes but what’s a taxi to the airport cost now? Otherwise the comparison doesn’t mean much.

exactly! it was more expensive, now taxi is often 20-30% cheaper and almost never more expensive

Re: Uber shuts operations in Nigeria and Uganda with immediate effect

#54

Post by UnfitFootprint » Thu, Sep 03, 2026, 1:28 AM UTC

johndhi wrote: post #49

abdullahkhalids wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shops and factories can be temporarily shut down if they don't comply with regulations. Businesses that require licenses like law practices may similarly have to stop operations. That is half of going to jail. Unfortunately, the growth potential that software industry generally provides has generally prevented governments for creating and enforcing similar laws for software products and such.

How does growth potential relate to legal enforcement?

The way everybody involved makes money

Re: Uber shuts operations in Nigeria and Uganda with immediate effect

#55

Post by jojobas » Thu, Sep 03, 2026, 1:28 AM UTC

tclancy wrote: post #35

jojobas wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A taxi to the airport in Melbourne was >AUD100 from where I am more than 10 years ago. An Uber is ~AUD70 still, past all the subsidies.

Yes but what’s a taxi to the airport cost now? Otherwise the comparison doesn’t mean much.

13cabs, a licensed cab operator, just gave me an estimate of AUD144, UberX 79, Uber Comfort 90.

Re: Uber shuts operations in Nigeria and Uganda with immediate effect

#56

Post by linkregister » Thu, Sep 03, 2026, 1:29 AM UTC

bossyTeacher wrote: post #20

embedding-shape wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given Uber is one of the few companies who are lucky enough to have a separate page for all the controversies on Wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversies_surrounding_Uber ), they also have their own fair of experience with police raids on their offices. They've also used "‘kill switch’ during raids to stop police seeing data" ( https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/10/uber-files-leak... ) before, s…

> They've also used "‘kill switch’ during raids to stop police seeing data If Uber wasn't a VC backed company, they would have been charged with destruction of evidence or similar.

The manager of Uber Paris was jailed for just that.

Re: Uber shuts operations in Nigeria and Uganda with immediate effect

#57

Post by brazukadev » Thu, Sep 03, 2026, 1:30 AM UTC

alephnerd wrote: post #3

Bolt (the CEE ridesharing app) is the primary player in Nigeria. In Uganda it's primarily a bunch of local startups.

Lovely. That's tech creating good jobs. I hope Uber leave my country too.

Re: Uber shuts operations in Nigeria and Uganda with immediate effect

#58

Post by linkregister » Thu, Sep 03, 2026, 1:30 AM UTC

minraws wrote: post #33

bossyTeacher wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They've also used "‘kill switch’ during raids to stop police seeing data If Uber wasn't a VC backed company, they would have been charged with destruction of evidence or similar.

They likely were but Companies don't go to jail they pay fines

Various Uber city team managers have spent time in jail.

Re: Uber shuts operations in Nigeria and Uganda with immediate effect

#59

Post by jojobas » Thu, Sep 03, 2026, 1:31 AM UTC

bdangubic wrote: post #53

tclancy wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes but what’s a taxi to the airport cost now? Otherwise the comparison doesn’t mean much.

exactly! it was more expensive, now taxi is often 20-30% cheaper and almost never more expensive

Nope, see above - 144 vs 80-90 right this moment, taxi is way more expensive.

Re: Uber shuts operations in Nigeria and Uganda with immediate effect

#60

Post by protocolture » Thu, Sep 03, 2026, 1:34 AM UTC

tclancy wrote: post #35

jojobas wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A taxi to the airport in Melbourne was >AUD100 from where I am more than 10 years ago. An Uber is ~AUD70 still, past all the subsidies.

Yes but what’s a taxi to the airport cost now? Otherwise the comparison doesn’t mean much.

We have an issue where Uber Drivers dont know the local laws about child restraints. They dont need them. Taxis, Busses, Trains and Ride Shares are given explicit exemption from the laws about child restraints. My wife, taking my kiddo around, has had to stop using Uber because they turn up, see the kid, and drive off cancelling the fare. However, Taxis do know the law, and are centrally enforced into permitting children. So she often makes some trips with uber, and some with taxis depending on when my kids along.

Roughly speaking, same time of day, same route, same tolls. 25 - 30 dollar Uber, 40 - 60 dollar Taxi.

Its a pretty steep charge for "Understands the laws regarding child restraints"

Also worth noting, age is a protected characteristic in Australia, Uber refuses to do anything about their drivers, but when I have enough evidence of rejected fares I am considering throwing it to some hungry lawyers.