Uber has announced hitting a milestone of one billion rides in Africa nearly ten years after its debut on the continent. It has also covered about 10 billion kilometres of distance across the continent.
The ride-hailing giant, which made this announcement in a statement recently, explained that the app doesn’t just support entrepreneurs and mobility but also makes mobility more affordable for the people on the African continent.
Uber is now present in seven other countries in Africa and has expanded to thirty cities across its major markets this year, including over 21 cities in South Africa, two cities in Ghana, and four cities each in Kenya and Nigeria (Uyo, Warri, Enugu and Kano).
Uber and Uber Eats have collectively reached over thirty million riders and eaters in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) during the same period.
In a statement, the Head of Communications, East and West Africa, Uber, Lorraine Onduru, said, “Since entering the market in 2013, we have created over six million economic opportunities in over fifty SSA cities that we are present in. We pride ourselves in building locally using global expertise. Each country’s needs are unique, so we take the time to understand each of the market’s needs so we can be responsive and adapt accordingly.”
The company also shared that the most popular time users requested rides was 2:00 p.m, Friday was the most popular day users requested rides, the average trip time was 24 minutes, the longest recorded trip was over 492km, and the most popular drop-off destination was the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The company’s first-quarter earnings report showed that the company doubled revenue to over $6.9 billion compared with the first quarter of last year.
