Global ride-hailing pioneer and one of the most closely watched Silicon Valley titan, Uber Technologies Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, California, had been in an early-stage talk with regulators over its plan to expand into fast-growing West African countries alongside launching a boat service in Lagos, a Nigerian megacity, a Uber executive had unveiled on Thursday, the 27th of June 2019.
In fact, latest move of the San-Francisco-based ride-sharing giant had almost entirely been prompted by a number of factors including low level of personal car ownership in Sub-Saharan Africa, lack of mass transport systems in the fast-growing cities alongside a rapidly expanding population.
Nonetheless, on Thursday’s (June 27th) commentary, Uber had also added that it had about 36,000 active drivers in Sub-Saharan Africa, operating in a number of countries including South and East Africa, however, the ride-hailing giant had yet to expand its market on to West Africa alongside Ghana and Nigeria.
Adding that the company had targeted the West-African markets as a spot for potential expansion, Chief Business Officer of Uber, Brooks Entwistle said on Thursday (June 27th), “Both Abidjan and Dakar are logical opportunities for us”.
Besides, followed by the reveal of the latest move of Uber Technologies Inc., its share prices were up by 5 percent to $44.80 during the midday US trading hours.