A record 30,000 Cairenes are now using Uber to earn money as they drive, making the Egyptian capital the fastest city in the region to embrace the app. Uber, which connects drivers with people wanting a safe, affordable ride, passed this milestone in just eighteen months since its launch in Egypt.
The thousands of economic opportunities created every week by Uber’s innovative technology have transformed the lives of drivers and their families. Those who partner with Uber directly are their own boss and have complete flexibility as to when they drive. 70% now use Uber part-time to supplement their income from elsewhere, although 40% had been completely unemployed beforehand. Others have successfully gone from driving one car, to becoming a small business owner employing others.
“Uber transformed urban mobility for millions of Egyptians when we launched in Cairo, introducing a safe, reliable and efficient way to move around the city. But Uber is more than that – we are creating valuable economic opportunities at a time when unemployment remains all too common in the Middle East. Our goal is to invest more than ever before in Egypt, providing more work as well as a better way to travel for Egyptians,” said Anthony Khoury, General Manager, Uber Egypt.
The technology company is committed to invest around EGP 500 million in Egypt over the next two years as part of EGP 2.2 billion investment in the MENA region. The investment will go towards providing more resources and training to grow the driver network, continuing to develop the technology as need for Egypt in order to reach more people and cities and the opening of bigger office spaces and training centres.
“The Government is very clear that innovative technologies can play a crucial role in helping people get around our cities and so it is encouraging that regulations for ride-sharing are under discussion. We can help even further when the private and public sectors work together with the best interests of the people at heart,” added Khoury.
About Uber MENA
Uber’s mission is to make transportation as reliable as running water — everywhere, for everyone.We started in 2009 to solve a simple problem – how do you get a ride at the touch of a button? Six years and over a billion trips later, we’ve started tackling an even greater challenge: reducing congestion and pollution in our cities by getting more people into fewer cars.
In the Middle East, Uber is already in Alexandria, Amman,Bahrain Beirut, Cairo, Casablanca, Dammam, Dubai, Abu Dhabi Doha, Jeddah, Istanbul, Lahore Riyadh and the Eastern Province with plans for expansion across the region. To request a ride, users must download the free application for Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, Blackberry 7, or sign up at uber.com/app. For more information, please visit: uber.com/cities.