Safeboda is exiting Nigeria to focus on profitability in Uganda

Ugandan bike-hailing startup, SafeBoda is exiting the Nigerian market to focus on "bringing the company to profitability by deepening its core transportation offering" in Uganda, its largest market.

The announcement is coming barely three months after the company expanded its service from bike-hailing to include car-hailing.

This is the second time the startup will be pulling out of a country since it was founded in 2017. In 2020, SafeBoda left the Kenyan market after operating in Nairobi for two years. The company said it exited Kenya due to the negative effects of COVID-19 on its business.

While in Nigeria, SafeBoda ran an impressive operation in the southwestern city of Ibadan, where it began operations in March 2020. Earlier this year, the bike-hailing company celebrated crossing 4 million rides, and 50,000 deliveries with over 10,000 riders and 100,000 passengers.

The company says it is now leaving Nigeria because the 'okada' industry (a local term for motorcycle taxis) "in its current state is not economically viable and unfortunately requires significant investment at this challenging time in the global economic landscape."