Uber jumps after saying it's looking to expand ride-hailing into West Africa, offer boat service (UBER)

[ad_1]

• Shares of Uber climbed as much as 5% on Thursday after a company executive said the ride-hailing service is engaged in talks with regulators in Western African countries about expansion opportunities.
• Uber also mentioned a potential boat service in Lagos, Nigeria, according to Reuters. The company recently started offering boat rides in Mumbai, India.
• Watch Uber trade live. 
• Visit the Markets Insider home page for more stories.

Uber is looking to expand into Western Africa.

Shares of the ride-hailing company rose as much as 5% after an executive told Reuters that Uber is talking with regulators in the region about expanding its services in Senegal and the Ivory Coast.

Uber is also exploring the possibility of offering boat rides on waterways in Lagos, Nigeria, to alleviate street traffic, according to Reuters. The company started offering boat rides in Mumbai, India, earlier this year. 

Uber already launched a ride-hailing service in Lagos, a city with 20 million people, in July 2014. 

A bonus just for you: Click here to claim 30 days of access to Business Insider PRIME

The company also already operates in East and South Africa, and has 36,000 active drivers spread across sub-Saharan Africa. West Africa represents a largely untapped market for Uber, with the exception of Nigeria and Ghana.

Brooks Entwistle, the chief business officer at Uber, told Reuters the company is currently working with regulators in Senegal and Ivory Coast to launch its services. 

“We have talked about West Africa today as being a big growth priority for us and launch priority for us moving forward,” Brooks Entswistle, Uber’s chief business officer, said in an interview. 

Entwistle also said that the population growth and congested nature of the cities in West Africa make them appealing for the company. 

Uber is down roughly 1% year-to-date.

Now read more markets coverage from Markets Insider and Business Insider:

Spotify is spending hundreds of millions to become a major podcasting player — and Wall Street sees massive potential for the stock 

Fresh off its IPO, Chewy might be the next company to get crushed by Amazon

This 26-year-old stared down financial ruin to raise $340 million for his delivery app that’s now beating Uber and Deliveroo in huge markets

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Mount Everest is not the hardest mountain to climb — here’s what makes K2 so much worse

[ad_2]