Uber’s arrival in Kenya in January 2015 was a turning point for the country’s urban transport sector. The American ride-hailing app made it possible to summon a car from a smartphone, see a fare estimate before boarding, and pay by cash or card. 

At that time, it was the first taste of tech-enabled convenience for riders in Nairobi. The service quickly spread beyond Nairobi to Mombasa and Kisumu. Over the past decade, Uber has influenced how Kenyans think about taxis, forced regulators to amend transportation laws, and created new earning opportunities for thousands of drivers (Uber declines to share how many drivers work on its platform in Kenya).

Uber’s growth coincided with fare reductions, a high commission structure, and heavy driver protests. The company has been sued, probed by the government, and experienced repeated strikes. 

It now enters its second decade with Uber Safari, a new product that links its platform to Nairobi’s tourism economy. The launch has been met with praise and unease, signaling that many drivers and policymakers still have mixed feelings about Uber’s place in Kenya’s transport system.

Legal and regulatory changes 

When Uber entered the market, it was treated as a technology platform rather than a transport operator. This early classification gave it room to grow without being subject to the strict licencing requirements faced by traditional transport businesses. 

Local taxi associations pushed back, accusing Uber of unfair competition and calling for a level regulatory field. In 2015 and 2016, there were violent attacks on Uber drivers, including reports of vehicles being vandalised near popular pick-up points.

Amidst these issues, regulatory response took years to form. By 2019, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) had created a licencing regime for digital taxi operators, which required them to register, share trip data with regulators, and enforce a commission cap. 

Court cases by drivers further forced Uber to revise its contracts. A key ruling by the High Court held that Uber BV (its Dutch subsidiary) in Amsterdam could not avoid responsibility for fare decisions in Kenya. This clarified that drivers were in a contractual relationship with Uber Kenya and that any fare or commission change had to be fair and transparent.

Taxation has been another area of tension. The Finance Act introduced digital service tax in 2021 and later e-TIMS compliance in 2024, forcing Uber and its drivers to register for PINs and submit electronic invoices. While this improved tax compliance and gave the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) better visibility into ride-hailing income, many drivers say it increased their administrative and financial burden at a time when fuel prices were already eroding their margins.

Consumer protection rules also changed the way Uber operates. After a 2025 probe by Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa’s (COMESA) competition authority, Uber was compelled to revise its terms so that disputes are handled under Kenyan law, not Dutch law. The same order required Uber to clearly communicate price surges and obtain consent from riders before adjusting fares mid-trip.

Drivers’ experiences and repeated protests

The promise of Uber as a steady income stream drew thousands of drivers onto the platform. Many took loans or entered lease-to-own arrangements to acquire vehicles. At first, generous incentives and high base fares made it possible to earn comfortably. But fare reductions in 2016 and a 25% commission rate quickly strained drivers’ finances. Net earnings fell below what many needed to repay loans and maintain their cars.

At some point during the COVID-19 pandemic, drivers staged sit-ins outside Uber’s offices in Nairobi and occasionally switched off the app to disrupt service. Their demands included reducing commission to 10 or 15%, increasing fares to reflect fuel and maintenance costs, and allowing more flexibility in how drivers set prices. 

Uber responded by introducing a tipping feature, occasional fare adjustments, and maintenance discounts, but many drivers say the changes did not address the underlying problem that most trips were still unprofitable after expenses.

There is an ongoing debate about whether driving for Uber can be a main source of income. A 2025 IDinsight study found that Kenya’s platform drivers often work over 66 hours per week to break even. 

Earnings fluctuate based on demand, traffic, and competition from other platforms such as Bolt, Little, and Faras. While some drivers report making enough to sustain their households, others say the model pushes them into debt and forces them to work dangerously long hours.

“Most of the Uber cars on the road are financed through loans. Drivers often work long hours just to cover monthly payments, because if they fall behind, the cars are repossessed,” Paul Sakwa, a former ride-hailing driver who now uses an electric bike, told TechCabal on Wednesday.

The protests have rarely translated into lasting policy change. The NTSA’s 18% commission cap, introduced in 2022, was seen as a win for drivers but was only partially implemented, with platforms continuing to charge more through loopholes. Labour unions have tried to organise drivers into cooperatives and bargaining groups, but high turnover and oversupply of drivers make collective action difficult to sustain.

What Uber Safari represents

For its tenth anniversary in Kenya, Uber launched Uber Safari on Tuesday, a product that allows users to book guided tours of Nairobi National Park directly through the app for KES 25,000 ($194) during the day or KES 40,000 ($311) at night. Riders can choose day or night packages, reserve in advance, and get picked up in safari-ready vehicles. 

The idea is to merge urban ride-hailing with the tourism sector, creating a new revenue stream for licensed tour operators and giving Uber access to a premium segment.

“With Uber Safari, riders can choose between two unique offerings: a Day Safari or a Night Safari, both through Nairobi National Park – the first of its kind available through the Uber app. Using Uber Reserve, riders can pre-book their adventure directly in the app, then be picked up in a fully licensed, safari-ready Land Cruiser operated by licensed tour companies,” Uber said in a statement seen by TechCabal. 

Despite this, only drivers with special vehicles and partnerships with fleet operators can participate, leaving out the bulk of ride-hailing drivers. 

Some see this as a missed opportunity, arguing that the company should first address earnings on regular trips before branching into tourism. Others worry that Uber Safari will create new pricing pressures by introducing its algorithm-driven approach to a sector that traditionally allows operators to negotiate higher margins.

“No wonder they don’t initially show the price on the app. KES 25,000 is enough for a holiday in Diani,” Kiruti Itimu, a media executive in Nairobi, told Techcabal on Wednesday. 

A tour operator, who requested anonymity and runs an office in Nairobi’s Westlands, told TechCabal that they already face high licencing fees and compliance costs, and fear Uber’s entry could trigger a race to the bottom in safari pricing. Supporters argue that Uber Safari could expand the market by attracting younger, tech-savvy tourists who might not book a traditional tour.

A half-day trip to the park typically costs between $43 and $138 per person with a tour company or park-operated vehicle, significantly lower than Uber’s rates.

A mixed decade, and what comes next

Uber’s first ten years in Kenya have been marked by undeniable growth and equally undeniable conflict. It pioneered digital ride-hailing, expanded payment options, and gave many urban residents safer and more predictable transport. 

It also expanded into food delivery, motorcycle taxis, and low-cost services such as Chapchap, changing how logistics and mobility work in Kenyan cities.

But the decade has also been defined by disputes over fairness. Drivers have protested fare cuts, taken Uber to court, and lobbied for regulatory protection. Regulators have responded with piecemeal reforms, some helpful, others burdensome. Passengers have benefited from lower fares and better service, but often at the expense of driver welfare.

Uber can double down on growth by finding new markets like tourism and continuing to optimise for riders, or it can work toward driving a more sustainable livelihood by sharing more revenue with its core workforce. 

Suppose the last ten years are any guide. In that case, the tension between profitability, driver welfare, and regulatory compliance will continue to influence Uber’s and, by extension, other ride-hailing platforms in the Kenyan story.

Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15–16! Meet and learn from Africa’s top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Get your tickets now: moonshot.techcabal.com

Millions of Africans turn to micro and informal businesses daily because there is nothing else. There are no jobs, safety nets, or savings. These businesses are not formed out of an ambition to build an empire but out of a need to put food on the table tomorrow. And because of this, they rarely grow beyond survival.

The 2024 Moniepoint Informal Economy Report shows that just 1.3% of Nigeria’s informal businesses make over ₦2.5 million ($1,500) monthly profit. Most earn less than ₦250,000 ($150) a month, and spend nearly all of it on feeding and family obligations. They keep no books, do not know their actual net profit, and often make decisions that wipe out their working capital. When money runs out, they borrow from friends, relatives or loan sharks, usually without repayment plans or grace periods, sinking deeper into debt.

A problem of this scale is an interlocking mess of missing education, inadequate credit, weak infrastructure and the sheer exhaustion of living hand-to-mouth. 

This is the context Payble is walking into. Founded by Roosevelt Elias, with Eghonghon Daniels as COO and Ayo O. as CTO, the startup is trying to do something almost unreasonable. Roosevelt told me that Africa’s smallest businesses should have the kind of resource planning technology and financial structure usually reserved for large corporations.

Roosevelt adds that he sees Payble as a way of breaking the cycle. “The problem is not that microentrepreneurs lack ambition,” he explained, “it’s that the system keeps them trapped in survival mode.” 

For Payble, that means starting from the ground up. The platform bundles together inventory tracking, cash flow monitoring, invoicing, payments, and access to credit, but it does so with the understanding that its users may never have had formal business training.

The startup has embedded learning modules into the product itself. A kiosk owner who records daily sales is nudged to see his or her weekly profit margin and is guided through a straightforward pricing or stock management lesson. 

A salon owner gets prompts on when to separate business money from personal money and is shown in real time what that discipline would do for their cash flow. Roosevelt explains that the idea is not to turn every trader into an accountant but to slowly shift the mindset from hustle to enterprise so that decisions can be made with data, not guesswork.

This is slow, painstaking work that takes more than software and a swanky, new startup. Per Roosevelt, Payble has had to design for informal commerce’s chaotic, hybrid nature, where paper receipts and digital wallets coexist and income can be highly seasonal. 

The young company is experimenting with AI agents that provide operational insight—like flagging when inventory is about to run out or cash flow will not cover next week’s purchases—but the system is tuned to speak in the local language to avoid alienating its users.

Where’s credit? 

In a market where 70% of micro business owners have taken credit but just 12% have accessed formal financial services, Payble has chosen to make credit a last step, not the first. 

Users are encouraged first to build a history of transactions on the platform so that when they borrow, the loans are tied to actual business needs, like restocking fast-moving items, rather than plugging personal cash gaps. Roosevelt believes this approach reduces default rates and teaches owners to deploy capital intentionally.

The startup structure itself is lean but deliberate. It was founded in 2023 and operates with a small core team split between Lagos and remote locations, with partnerships to handle distribution and merchant onboarding. 

While Roosevelt will not disclose how much capital the company is currently trying to raise, he says it is in talks with early-stage investors and is committed to focusing on sustainable growth rather than chasing vanity metrics.

For all its ambition, Payble is not immune to the ecosystem’s constraints. The infrastructure for digital payments remains patchy, and education is a long game that requires trust. Yet Roosevelt insists the problem must be solved at its roots. 

“What makes Payble different is that we don’t treat micro-businesses as “too small.” We build for them — low-cost, easy-to-use, and designed to fit into their daily realities. In other words, Payble gives the corner shop or market vendor the same infrastructure as a big company, but without the barriers.”

The startup has begun piloting partnerships with banks and insurers to create bundled products – small-ticket health cover for market traders, overdraft facilities for verified merchants, and micro-savings accounts that lock away a fraction of daily revenue. 

These collaborations matter because they turn a dead-end economy into one with upward paths, where a business can grow from one table in the market to a small shop, and then to a formal SME.

Payble’s approach is contrarian precisely because it claims to discard the common wisdom that informal businesses will always stay informal. In my understanding, the company believes that with the right tools, hundreds of thousands of these traders can be formalised not by coercion but by the natural incentive of making more money and spending less time worrying about survival.

Payble at Moonshot 

In October, Roosevelt will speak at Moonshot by TechCabal, a gathering of some of Africa’s most serious founders and investors. He told me it is more about pressure-testing ideas with peers who know how to build, and will share the difficulty of building for users who are often too busy surviving to sit still for onboarding, and the emotional toll of running a company trying to solve structural problems at scale.

“I believe Moonshot can inspire and empower the next generation of founders. It creates a stage where entrepreneurs can see that they’re not alone, that others are breaking barriers, raising capital, and solving problems at scale. When stories are shared openly in a forum like this, it builds collective belief and momentum.”