Thursday March 28th, 2024
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Uber Announces that Cairo Has Become Africa's Largest Hub

Uber's growth in Cairo has been deemed explosive as the Head of Operations announces that it has surpassed Johannesburg and is now officially Africa's largest hub, and is on pace to surpass London and Paris in the coming year.

Staff Writer

During a speech this week in Johannesburg, Uber’s Head of Operation for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, announced that Cairo has surpassed Johannesburg, officially becoming the biggest and busiest African city, and is on pace to surpass London and Paris in the coming year.

Talking with Fin24, Gore-Coty explained that in the last few months Cairo surpassed Johannesburg as Uber's biggest hub in Africa despite launching a year after the South African city. “Egypt, right now, out of all the African countries we have, is probably the fastest growing. There's about 2,000 drivers who are joining the Uber platform every month, which is definitely a lot. It is literally exploding,” Gore-Coty tells Fin24.

The explosive growth rate is so impressive that Gore-Coty expects Cairo to overtake London and Paris in the next year. Confirming the news in Cairo is General Manager of Uber Egypt, Tino Waked, who tells us, “There are two main reasons Egyptians are choosing Uber. For riders, there’s a lack of suitable transportation alternatives. Quality, safety, reliability, and affordability are huge points for riders to trust the Uber platform and use it daily.  For drivers, Uber is attractive given the current 30+ percent unemployment in youth specifically, and with the current downturn in tourists, it makes Uber the perfect opportunity for someone to work part time and supplement their income.”

Also boosting Uber trips in Cairo is a recent partnership with Axa insurance. According to Waked, “Uber just announced a partnership with Axa so that anyone on an Uber trip is insured if, heaven forbid, there’s an accident.” The announcement was made over a month ago and helps Cairo stand out among Uber cities as not every city they operate in has liability insurance agreements.