Moove, the vehicle financing start-up founded in Lagos, is preparing to leave Nigeria. The company is considering an exit after Uber, its ride-hailing partner, left the country.
A person with knowledge of the plans said Uber’s sudden departure has made Moove’s business in the country untenable. Moove did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has not publicly confirmed that it will leave.
If it goes, Moove would leave the market where its model started. It would also leave behind drivers who are still paying off its cars.
A Partner Walks Away
Uber stopped taking trip requests in Nigeria on Sept. 2, ending a 12-year run in a market it entered in 2014. Customer support stayed open until Sept. 23 to settle outstanding accounts.
Moove’s business depended on Uber. Its financing model had long required drivers to work only on Uber, mostly in the Uber Go category using compact Suzuki Espresso cars.
Within hours of the shutdown, Moove told its drivers they could work on Bolt and inDrive. It said more updates would follow.
Drivers had asked for that freedom for years, but Moove had kept the Uber-only rule.
How the Model Worked
Moove launched in Nigeria in 2020 with a simple offer. It gave drivers new cars when bank loans were hard to get, and tied repayment to what they earned driving.
Drivers repay weekly over four years. Repayment came as a percentage of the weekly revenue drivers made on the platform.
Uber made that possible. Exclusivity was central to how Moove judged whether a driver could repay. It saw one stream of trip data and could take payments directly from it.
That stream is now gone. The open question is how Moove will measure earnings and enforce repayment when a driver’s income is spread across several apps.
A History of Strain
Nigeria was a hard market for Moove before Uber left.
The company grew its Nigerian fleet partly with dollar-denominated financing, while drivers earned in naira. As the naira fell, the gap widened. Moove went through a repayment crisis. It disabled and repossessed vehicles from drivers who fell behind, then reduced some instalments.
The company has also faced questions about its spending. In late 2022, it dismissed staff in its Nigeria offices without prior notice, months after expanding into India, Britain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.
A Bigger Company Elsewhere
Moove can afford to leave because Nigeria is no longer its center.
It reports about 42,000 vehicles in 29 cities across 13 countries, with annualized recurring revenue of $420 million. It now manages robotaxis in the United States for companies including Waymo, the Alphabet-owned operator.
Moove recently raised a $250 million Series C round at a $2.1 billion valuation. Nigeria is not named as a destination for the new money.
Uber’s ties to Moove also survive. Uber holds equity in Moove’s global holding company, and that stake remains as Moove grows in the U.A.E., India and Europe.
Drivers Carry the Risk
The people most exposed are the drivers.
Cars financed around Uber income now need another source of ride-hailing revenue. Bolt and inDrive have said they will stay in Nigeria and plan to absorb Uber’s drivers and riders. State-aligned LagRide is also competing. It secured a $100 million credit facility from United Bank for Africa to deploy 3,500 natural gas vehicles.
More drivers on fewer apps could mean less income per driver. Meanwhile, the market’s deeper problems remain: fuel costs, a weak currency and riders who are sensitive to price.
Moove publishes no country-level data on vehicles in service, outstanding loans, arrears or restructured contracts. Without those figures, it is unclear how many Nigerian drivers are affected or what happens to their cars if the company leaves.
