Didi cancels its trip in South Africa

Didi Chixung, the Chinese ride-hailing giant, has today shut down its operations in South Africa (SA), a year after it launched in the country, marking its entry into the continent.

A Didi official in SA confirmed the closure to TechCrunch but did not divulge the reasons for pulling the plug.

“We have made the difficult decision to end our operation in South Africa from April 8. Our aim has been to ensure a smooth transition for all and would like to take this opportunity to thank our employees, drivers, riders and partners for the kindness and support shown to DiDi,” a Didi South Africa spokesperson said.

Didi’s launch in South Africa last year had been expected to heighten competition for Uber and Bolt, the dominant ride-hailing companies in that region and across Africa. Its take-off, however, didn’t go as anticipated.

Didi hinted that its departure is expected to leave resources for more promising markets like Egypt, where it launched in the last quarter of 2021. Reports indicate that it is exploring expanding to Nigeria too. The taxi-hailing company has operations in 16 countries, including Russia and Mexico.

“We have re-evaluated where we can make the most positive impact in the short-term and are focusing on developing even deeper capabilities in other existing markets,” the SA spokesperson told TechCrunch.

Didi’s exit comes at a time when taxi drivers in South Africa are calling for the regulation of the sector citing exploitation and poor work conditions. Select drivers that recently went on strike also cited reduced earnings given the rising fuel prices and the “high commissions” charged by the ride-hailing firms.

As Didi leaves, Uber, which launched in SA in 2013, has been on an aggressive expansion drive, doubling its presence to over 40 cities in the last year alone. Bolt, which entered the country in 2015, recently introduced green options (EV and hybrid vehicles), shortly after launching food delivery service in the country last year.