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Uber Exits Nigeria And Uganda As It Cuts Jobs Globally
Uber ended ride-hailing operations in Nigeria and Uganda on 2 September, after 12 years in Nigeria and about a decade in Uganda. The company said the decision followed a review of the two businesses and would not affect its remaining African operations. Customer support will remain available during the transition. The exits follow its departure from Côte d’Ivoire in 2025 and Tanzania in January 2026, leaving Uber operating in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa.
Uber did not give a specific reason for leaving either market. On the same day, it announced about 3,300 job cuts globally, equivalent to roughly 10% of its workforce, as part of a wider restructuring. Chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi has also said the company plans to invest more than $10 billion in autonomous-vehicle technology and partnerships.
Source: Bloomberg · Daily Monitor
Ruto Told Tata Chemicals To Leave Kenya
President William Ruto said Tata Chemicals should leave Kenya and that new investors would be brought in to establish glass and chemical-processing plants in Kajiado County. The operation at Lake Magadi produces soda ash, a key input in glassmaking, and dates back more than a century, although Tata acquired Magadi Soda in 2005. Mining and soda-ash exports had already been suspended in July while the government reviewed compliance with Kenya’s mining laws.
The Mining Ministry cited unresolved issues including royalty payments, export reporting, local procurement, employment and skills transfer, environmental compliance and the absence of a satisfactory plan to process more of the soda ash into higher-value products in Kenya. Tata said that it had submitted the information requested by the ministry and maintained that it had demonstrated compliance. Following Ruto’s announcement, the company said it respected the government’s authority and would continue engaging through the legal and regulatory process.
Source: Reuters · Tata Chemicals
Shoprite Expanded Into Coffee and Payments
Shoprite has agreed to acquire South African coffee chain Vida e Caffè, subject to regulatory approval. Vida has about 400 corporate and franchise outlets and operates outside South Africa in Ghana, Mauritius, Zambia, Eswatini, Botswana, Namibia and Angola. Shoprite also completed the purchase of an initial 51% of R&A Cellular in August, giving it a payments and merchant platform serving informal and semi-formal retailers.
Vida operates cafés, forecourts, drive-throughs and other franchise formats, while R&A’s network includes more than 15,000 merchant terminals. Vida trades in Ghana, where Shoprite agreed to sell its supermarket business in 2025, after earlier exits from Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Shoprite described the acquisitions as investments in adjacent businesses where specialist expertise and speed to market offer an advantage.
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