Ugandan bike-hailing startup, SafeBoda is reportedly exiting Nigeria.
According to the company, it wants to focus on “bringing the company to profitability by deepening its core transportation offering” in Uganda, its largest market.
Recall that SafeBoda also exited Kenya in November 2020, less than two years after expanding its services to the country.
The company said this was due to the negative effects of COVID-19 on its operations.
SafeBoda is reportedly exiting Nigeria because the Okada industry “in its current state is not economically viable and unfortunately requires significant investment at this challenging time in the global economic landscape.”
Officially launched in Kampala, Uganda in 2017, SafeBoda claims to be upending the offline market for local motorcycles known as boda-bodas in Uganda and Okadas in Nigeria.
It launched in Ibadan, Nigeria, in December 2019 but began operations in March 2020.
This March, the company announced that it had completed over 3 million rides, and 50,000 deliveries with over 10,000 riders and 100,000 passengers.
What’s more, in August 2022, SafeBoda announced a car-hailing service, SafeCar, in Kampala and one month after, it also launched in Ibadan, Nigeria.
It is, however, unclear at the moment whether its exit from Nigeria will also impact its car-hailing service.
