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Lagride, a Lagos State Government-backed e-hailing and e-mobility platform, has secured a $100 million financing facility from United Bank for Africa (UBA). The funds will be channelled towards Lagride's new mobility scheme, the “Drive-to-Own vehicle ownership programme,” in Lagos.
Lagride's Drive-to-Own, with the support of UBA's $100 million financing, will empower over 3,000 Lagos mobility drivers to transition from daily renters to vehicle owners and long-term income generators. This initiative will help to accelerate structured and expand tech-enabled mobility in the city.
Lagride and UBA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Ikeja, Lagos, with all key parties present. “This partnership will help transition drivers from renting vehicles to owning their own cars over a structured timeline … boosting financial inclusion and inclusive economic growth,” a UBA spokesperson said at the MoU signing.
“The goal of the Drive-to-Own programme is not to keep drivers behind the wheel indefinitely, but to move them up the economic value chain… into business owners, fleet partners, and mobility investors,” Chief Diana Chen, Chairman of Lagride, emphasised.
This UBA financing comes not quite long after Lagride added 100 electric vehicles (EVs) to its fleet as part of an aggressive strategy to grow its presence in Nigeria’s largest city. This expansion is a clear signal that the company wants to lead the transition to cleaner, tech-driven urban mobility by offering electric cars that can travel long distances on a single charge and be rapidly recharged.
Aside from the fact that this will help to reduce operational costs and emissions in Lagos, the rollout of these EVs also aligns with the government’s efforts to modernise the city’s transport system and improve reliability and service for riders.
With this fleet upgrade, Lagride has publicly stated a goal of capturing at least 70% of the Lagos e-hailing market. If Lagride can achieve this estimate, then the company will be positioned as the dominant ride-hailing service in the city, dominating existing players like Uber, Bolt, and InDrive. The latest funding is like a dream come true for Lagride.
Lagride's Drive-to-Own Financing Model
Lagride’s Drive-to-Own programme is a system that helps drivers stop renting cars every day or every week and instead work towards owning their own vehicles. Rather than paying endlessly for rentals, drivers are given a clear path to ownership based on how well they work and how responsibly they handle payments over time.
To qualify, drivers must meet certain conditions, such as steady earnings and good repayment behaviour. Once they qualify, they move from short-term rental plans into organised ownership arrangements where payments are spread out and linked to their regular income. This makes the process more predictable and less stressful for drivers.
Lagride says the new funding will be used to put more vehicles into this programme, allowing many more drivers to benefit. With this support, drivers no longer have to depend on informal loans or expensive leasing options, which often eat deeply into their daily earnings. Even Oliver Alawuba, Group MD/CEO of UBA, emphasised that the initiative will help “create jobs, build assets, and deliver long-term economic impact.”
By using drivers’ performance data to guide ownership and repayment decisions, the programme lowers the risk of missed payments that usually scare banks away. In this setup, Lagride acts as a bridge between drivers and the bank, using technology to track performance and maintain standards.
Over time, this could help more transport operators become trusted by banks and bring better structure to how urban transport is financed. Lagride plans to continue scaling its vehicle lineup to reach thousands more cars in the coming years, with many of them expected to be electric, which supports Lagos’s ambitions for sustainability and better urban transport.
