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Uber shuts operations in Nigeria and Uganda with immediate effect

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

#81

Post by apsurd »

lmm wrote: post #76
apsurd wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> at $156B market cap someone sure is making money. So 50x Pets.com or 2x Enron. > judging a mega-corporation on lemonade-stand level accounting is a fool's errand. Disagree. Unit economics matter and can help you cut through a lot of hype and nonsense. "Where's the money coming from?" is always a good question to ask. Sure, sometimes a megacorp loses money on each transaction and makes it up on float or whatever, bu…

Agree due diligence is required. FTX, Theranos, Enron are a reality. But it’s also tempting to color the assessment with virtue.

Im morally against Meta but it’s the world’s greatest money printing machine ever conceived. To say they or Uber don’t make money would be too virtue-tainted.

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

#82

Post by abdullahkhalids »

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?

In the current system, political parties who do things that stop the economy growing are usually voted out, more than political parties that refuse to take action against nebulous criminal activity. That's why, for example, my city refuses to do anything to stop the factories in the city from dumping waste into the river.

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

#83

Post by TZubiri »

melodyogonna wrote: post #41

Uber was never really in Nigeria much, despite apparently being here a long time. I use ride-hailing a lot, and I've never used it because it is not available in my state, or in most states, for that matter.

I read that in Nigeria (may misremember), the fares set by uber were too low (possibly it was a long-tail country with some incorrect exchange rates), so the drivers and riders had a custom of agreeing to different fees, I believe it came to the point where drivers would share an image or a copypasta with the actual rates and would ask the passenger to accept before picking them up.

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

#84

Post by the_sleaze_ »

myko wrote: post #75
esseph wrote: post #62

US SOCOM also just pulled out of Nigeria. The rumor is that this is becoming politically sensitive, so the US DoW is turning things over to none other than Erik Prince (Blackwater, Xe, etc). Nigeria is an important source of minerals, for example: lithium. Africa is being hotly contested right now between ISIS, the US / West, China, and state-local political factions.

> US DoW To be clear, it is the DoD - Department of Defense

Clears up understanding but the new name encompasses the new regimes stance quite effectively.

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

#85

Post by TZubiri »

itake wrote: post #80
brazukadev wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Bolt lost their license in Thailand due to poor safety tech after a Bolt driver (that borrowed another account, didn't have a license) attempted to kidnap a school girl [0]. Bolt creates 'good' jobs for criminals, but I don't think that is what we want. [0] - https://www.khaosodenglish.com/tech/2026/05/12/bolt-tightens...

What a nightmare, the kind of thing most founders fear, that their tech be used for evil and that they are responsible for aiding in that crime. (a nightmare for the actual victim too, no doubt)

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

#86

Post by TZubiri »

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?

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/uCMu9MoRwCo

This reminds me of this bit on a podcast where a tidbit of learned information so blatantly contradicts basic logic.

There's always an explanation, in this case, the tidbit was that "dull knives are more dangerous", because you apply more force when cutting vegetables and can end up hurting yourself, but it's laughably wrong when applied to weapons.

In the case of the tidbit of "uber actually loses money" that might have been relevant in the first years, there's this phenomenon where companies operate at a loss for some time (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_dumping) in order to accumulate market share (i.e a monopoly) and then they increase prices in order to recoup their investment and make profits.

So you read somewhere that "uber actually loses money" and this was from presumably a trusted source, but you failed to account the date of the knowledge, when Uber was somewhat smaller and their margins were smaller, and you read it assuming it applies to the present, so you somehow thought that one of the biggest tech companies in the world, that charges around 30% per trip, and has almost no marginal costs, would operate at a loss.

So I don't want to be offensive, but it's so wrong that it has a comedic quality.

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

#87

Post by tristanj »

deaux wrote: post #74
tristanj wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You claim it's wrong, yet don't bother to justify your position at all. I've ridden on Uber, Lyft, Bolt, Grab, inDrive, Careem, Yandex Go, Gojek, DiDi, Kakao T; and in my experience, outside the US/Europe (plus a few others), Uber is mostly for tourists. The alternatives are cheaper. > implying everywhere outside of USA and Europe is a developing region I'm not doing so at all. Those are separate sentences.

FYI the ones you named include ones priced exactly the same as Uber. Uber doesn't take the same cut in every country.

I'm fully aware that Lyft, Careem, and Kakao T are on my list. But that doesn't change the fact that in every region I've been to, Uber is always the most expensive option. Or it's tied for the highest price, in duopoly markets like the US/Canada.

The competitors inDrive, Bolt, or Yango almost always beat Uber on price.

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

#88

Post by walrus01 »

chermi wrote: post #21
tristanj wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In developing countries, the taxi market is largely unregulated and Uber faces actual competition. Uber cannot compete on price in these regions.

Does no one have any memory of what taxis were like and how much they cost? The taxis are gone because they weren't competitive.

> Does no one have any memory of what taxis were like and how much they cost? The taxis are gone because they weren't competitive.

And now in places like Seattle, Uber and Lyft are far more expensive than traditional taxis. Taking uber or lyft from the seatac airport to anywhere within a 30 minute driving distance is ridiculously costly now.

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

#89

Post by tristanj »

augment_me wrote: post #52
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 abo…

While I agree, Uber's cut has reached predatory levels. They take 50% of the fare in some markets. They're significantly overcharging riders and underpaying drivers. https://len-sherman.medium.com/ubers-long-and-winding-road-t...

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

#90

Post by deaux »

tristanj wrote: post #87
deaux wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI the ones you named include ones priced exactly the same as Uber. Uber doesn't take the same cut in every country.

I'm fully aware that Lyft, Careem, and Kakao T are on my list. But that doesn't change the fact that in every region I've been to, Uber is always the most expensive option. Or it's tied for the highest price, in duopoly markets like the US/Canada. The competitors inDrive, Bolt, or Yango almost always beat Uber on price.

This too isn't true. Most of the services you listed only operate in one (or at most a small few) countries. I know for a fact that in some of them, Uber is not the highest price. Instead, in some of them, Uber and the ones you listed are tied for the lowest price, with other local apps being more expensive.

You're misinforming here, giving bold statements based on not spending enough time in some of these countries, not knowing the local market well enough.

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