Mobility platform Moove, launched in Nigeria in 2020 by Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi as Uber’s preferred vehicle supply partner, has reportedly announced plans to exit the country.
In a report by Nairametrics, the company said it will transfer ownership of eligible vehicles worth ₦35 billion to customers for free, who will own them and will not be required to pay Moove.
The move comes weeks after Uber ended its operations in Nigeria on September 2 after 12 years, a development that put Moove’s original model under pressure. Moove pioneered a drive-to-own model in Lagos, where repayments were tied directly to drivers’ earnings on ride-hailing platforms, making a functioning marketplace central to its economics.
In a statement shared with Nairametrics and published on Thursday, October 8, 2026, the company said:
“As Moove concludes its Nigerian operations, eligible vehicles with an estimated total value of approximately ₦35 billion will pass into full ownership of the customers who currently operate them, with no payment to Moove required for the vehicles themselves from October 1, 2026. Moove will also reward all staff members with a Free Car as a sign of appreciation.”
Co-founder, Co-CEO and Advisory Board Chairman of Moove, Ladi Delano, described the exit as an emotional moment and said the decision was intended to recognise Nigeria’s role in the company’s growth.
“Nigeria is where Moove began, and everything we have built since carries something of Lagos with it,” Delano said.
He noted that the company’s first customers trusted Moove when it was still an idea, and their support laid the foundation for its international expansion. More than 9,000 customers have used Moove’s Drive to Own and rental products in Nigeria, with its vehicles helping generate approximately ₦57 billion in revenue.
“Those numbers matter because they represent people earning, supporting their families and building their own futures,” Delano said.
Recently, the Amalgamated Union of App-based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON) wrote to Moove and other vehicle financiers, including LagRide, requesting temporary relief from daily remittances ahead of a proposed October 12 shutdown of Bolt and inDrive, noting that drivers would not generate normal revenue during the action.
Moove, which started in Lagos as a solution to vehicle ownership in a market with scarce credit, has since scaled into one of Africa’s most valuable startups. In August, the company raised $250 million in a Series C round led by Mubadala Investment Company and co-led by Toyota’s Woven Capital and Ion Pacific, hitting a $2.1 billion valuation to become Africa’s latest unicorn. The round was its largest single raise in 2026 and accounted for nearly 69% of all startup funding recorded in August, according to Nairametrics.
The company, now headquartered outside Nigeria, may now shift focus to global markets and autonomous vehicle infrastructure, including its robotics-first depots known as “Nests” for charging and maintenance of self-driving fleets, and recently expanded into the US, UAE and other markets.
Moove has not yet issued a full public statement on the Nigeria exit timeline, but the reported free transfer will effectively close out its legacy financing portfolio in the country where it started.
Last updated: October 8, 2026
