Uber has reinstated Visa card payments for rides in Kenya, with users seeing the option return in the app on 4 September. This follows an eight-month absence after the company disabled Visa in January due to rising payment processing costs. Visa now appears alongside Mastercard, M-Pesa, Airtel Money and PayPal as a valid payment method. At the time of the initial removal, Uber stated it was reviewing payment options market by market to manage expenses, though it did not explain what changed to allow Visa's return.
The move contrasts sharply with Uber's decision to shut down ride-hailing operations entirely in Nigeria and Uganda on 2 September. The company said the closure was limited to those two markets and part of a broader global restructuring that includes cutting 3,300 corporate jobs, about 10% of its workforce. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the restructuring aims to reduce management layers and limit fully remote roles to around 1% globally. Uber has not linked the Kenya payment reversal to its exit from Nigeria and Uganda, nor has it disclosed whether changes in payment processing played any role in the market closures.
Uber restored Visa in Kenya without explaining what changed, while offering no comparable clarity on why it left Nigeria and Uganda. The lack of public connection between cost-saving moves and market exits leaves riders and drivers in affected countries without clear reasoning for the shutdown. This silence makes it difficult to assess whether operational adjustments could have prevented the closures.
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