Uber sub-Saharan Africa partnered with GoGreen Africa at the Africa’s Green Economy Summit to launch its future ambitions in the region. “We have a clear timeline to become a zero emissions platform by 2040,” Kagiso Khaole, Uber sub-Saharan Africa general manager, tells explain. Khaole joined the company in 2021 when the legal issues surrounding driver employment status in South Africa was reaching its height.
In 2017 seven drivers took an unfair dismissal dispute to the South African CCMA, resulting in a finding that the drivers were Uber South Africa employees and not independent contractors. This was overturned by the Labour Court in 2018 which upheld Uber’s contract terms and conditions classifying drivers as independent contractors who are not entitled to paid leave and other benefits.
Since entering South Africa a decade ago, Uber blitzed the personal mobility market and scaled to quickly become the de facto taxi service of the digital age. These scaling tactics like introducing more affordable tiers (Uber Go) and a mass recruitment initiative has only benefitted the riders, while diluting value for the drivers who are locked into long-term lease agreements and have no income security.
Khaole is aware of these issues but was reluctant to comment directly on the driver woes or the explosive Uber Files revelations about the business decisions the country made that put drivers at serious risk.
“We want the best for all earners and merchants who operate on the Uber platform and rigorously engage with them through various channels, including roundtables and surveys, to better understand the realities they face on the ground when it comes to safety and earnings,” he said.
The other major issue that Uber is yet to solve is its contribution to traffic congestion. Uber drivers completed 7.6 billion trips in 2022, or around 21 million daily rides across the 900 cities where you can use its services.
These are still private vehicles ferrying mostly individuals around already congested cities, which does nothing to reduce either the number of cars on the road, or the time those cars spend sending carbon emissions into the atmosphere. It also contributes to infrastructure decline and shifts the usage taxes – fuel levies, emissions taxes and car maintenance – to its drivers.
“I think those are some really keen observations when we start thinking about congestion or occupancy of vehicles,” says Khaole. “We’ve got products currently live in several markets across Africa like UberX Share where we allow people to be paired together on trips.”
“I think there is definitely an opportunity for those kinds of products to be explored. As we walk this journey, we like to make sure that the marketplace is prepared for that. I think it’s working with other players as well to ensure that this has a net benefit for the economy.”
Uber has expanded its operations into public transit with an option in some cities to buy bus and train tickets within the familiar Uber app. It’s in line with the company’s pivot to becoming a mobility platform – just the digital infrastructure that knits mobility solutions together – and not a taxi service that is liable for the safety and wellbeing of its drivers.
An important part of that transition is the focus on emissions reduction through expanding the use of electric vehicles among its drivers.
In February the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Indian industrial giant Tata to introduce 25,000 EVs on Indian roads by 2026. This answers a challenge set by ride hailing competitor BluSmart – backed by BP’s venture fund – that leads the EV transition in the mobility sector.
With over 20,000 drivers active on the platform in South Africa, Uber could supercharge the country’s demand for EVs and charging infrastructure with its sheer scale alone.
“I think being the largest mobility platform in the world, being a leading platform on this continent as well, there’s really a great opportunity to fast track that transition to EVs,” agrees Khaole. “So if you think about it, there’s many people who’ve never even sat inside that type of vehicle. And this is the first way to experience it, for the drivers as well.
“Uber might be the first place that the individual steps in and starts to experience the cost savings start and even the smaller joys. I was in Dubai recently and I was in a Tesla, taking an Uber trip, and that driver started explaining to me about the torque and the power of these vehicles, as well as the savings that he’s making on a daily basis.”
A company with well publicised labour exploitation is an unlikely salesperson for the Just Energy Transition, but the network effects of the privileged class creating demand for new energy vehicles – a key component of President Ramaphosa’s JETP – are difficult to ignore. Toyota
Toyota and Mercedes-Benz local plants are already ramping up production of hybrid cars and the Uber market may tip the scales for other car manufacturers to stake a claim with in-country manufacturing.
“I do want to always remind the public that for us, if it moves, it can get onto the Uber platform. So whether it’s leveraging hydrogen or battery electric technology, we’re ready to incorporate it,” explains Khaole.
“We actually have it broken down in different stages as well. Initially, you’d see an Uber Green as a separate product, similar to UberX and Uber Black. Then it gets absorbed into those core products in the future. And we don’t need to actually call it out as a standalone.”
