Who owns Africa's last mile?
Uber's $14.8bn acquisition of Delivery Hero was negotiated in San Francisco and Berlin. But its biggest consequences may unfold in Lagos, Nairobi, Cairo and Casablanca.
Uber's acquisition of Delivery Hero for $14.8bn will significantly reshape the digital economy of African cities, including Lagos, Nairobi, Cairo, and Casablanca. The combined company will operate across 99 markets with pro-forma gross bookings of $236bn in 2025, making it the largest mobility-and-delivery platform outside China.
Through this acquisition, Uber gains ownership of Glovo and Talabat's operations in several African countries, giving it unprecedented control over data, logistics, and pricing in some of the continent's fastest-growing urban economies. This shift marks the transformation of African food delivery companies into operating systems for cities, as they generate valuable data on purchasing habits, traffic patterns, delivery times, neighbourhood demand, and merchant performance.
Brief written by urgent.news from Africa Business's own syndicated text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
