Moove is giving Nigerian drivers their cars as it exits the market

Moove is leaving Nigeria and handing eligible drivers the cars they have been paying for. The company says the vehicles are worth about ₦35 billion ($26.3 million), and drivers will not have to make further payments from October 1, 2026. The timing is hard to separate from Uber’s departure. Uber stopped operating in Nigeria on September 2, leaving Moove without the ride-hailing partner at the centre of its vehicle-financing business.

Moove financed cars for drivers and collected repayments from their earnings. Uber supplied the trips and the earnings data Moove used to assess drivers. The arrangement worked around one platform. Once Uber left, Moove had to reconsider how it would manage a fleet of financed cars whose drivers could now earn money elsewhere. Rather than continue the business in Nigeria, Moove is transferring eligible vehicles to drivers and concentrating on its operations in other markets.

Drivers had been asking for more freedom

Moove launched in Lagos in 2020 with 76 cars. Its offer was straightforward: drivers could get a vehicle without paying the full purchase price upfront, then pay it off from their ride-hailing income. But drivers were expected to work on Uber, not split their time between Uber, Bolt and inDrive. Moove said it needed Uber’s earnings data to make lending decisions and monitor repayments.

That restriction became harder to accept when drivers complained about a shortage of trips. If Uber requests were slow, working on another platform could help them earn more. But doing so could put them in conflict with Moove. The arrangement had another weakness. Drivers earned in naira, while Moove had exposure to dollar-denominated financing. As the naira weakened, the cost of running the business came under pressure.

Drivers protested over repayment terms in 2023. By January 2025, some were also reporting fewer requests on Uber Go and struggling to meet their targets. They still had fuel, repairs and other vehicle expenses to cover, regardless of how many passengers they carried.

Uber’s exit left Moove with a different problem

When Uber left Nigeria in September, Moove dropped its rule requiring drivers to use only that platform. Drivers could now look for work on competing services, but their earnings would be spread across different platforms. For Moove, that complicated the job of tracking income and collecting repayments. Its Nigerian operation had been built around information from Uber, rather than a system designed to follow earnings across several ride-hailing companies.

The company has opted to hand over the vehicles instead of continuing with that arrangement.

It says the cars being transferred are worth about ₦35 billion ($26.3 million). Employees will also receive a car each. There is still a financial detail Moove has not disclosed: how much eligible drivers owed when the handover took effect on October 1. That figure would help explain the value of the remaining debt being cancelled and what the arrangement means for the company’s finances.

Moove has other work to focus on

Moove is no longer just a company financing cars for ride-hailing drivers. It has moved into managing fleets for autonomous vehicle businesses, including Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving car company. Under a partnership announced in December 2024, Moove took on fleet operations, depots and charging in Phoenix and Miami. In August 2026, the company raised $250 million at a reported $2.1 billion valuation. It said it operated about 42,000 vehicles across 29 cities in 13 countries, with annual recurring revenue of $420 million.

The new funding is intended to support its autonomous vehicle business and facilities known as Nests, which are designed to support self-driving fleets. That work is a long way from financing individual drivers in Lagos. It involves running vehicles and supporting infrastructure for companies developing driverless transport. Moove has not identified Nigeria as a destination for its planned autonomous vehicle facilities. Its decision to leave also means it no longer has to work out how to run its original financing model without Uber.

What drivers are left with

For eligible drivers, the handover removes the remaining payments owed to Moove and gives them ownership of their vehicles. They will also be free to choose which ride-hailing platforms they use. The bills that come with owning a car remain. 

Drivers will still have to pay for fuel, insurance, tyres, servicing and repairs. Whether they make a decent living will depend on the trips they can secure and what it costs to keep their cars on the road. Moove’s exit is also a reminder of what can happen when a financing business relies heavily on another company’s platform. Moove did not control Uber’s decision to leave Nigeria, but that decision changed how its own business could operate. The company started in Lagos by helping drivers pay for cars through their earnings. Now it is handing eligible drivers those cars and leaving the market, while its attention shifts to fleet operations elsewhere.