Lagos State Government-backed e-hailing platform, Lagride, has secured a $100 million financing facility from United Bank for Africa (UBA) to expand its Drive-To-Own programme, a move aimed at accelerating driver ownership and strengthening Lagos’ evolving mobility ecosystem.
According to a statement from the company, the funding will support the transition of about 3,500 drivers from daily rental arrangements into structured vehicle ownership and small business operations within the city’s transport sector. The facility reflects growing interest from financial institutions in technology-enabled mobility platforms with clear governance and data-driven models.
Speaking on the financing, Lagride Chairman, Chief Diana Chen, said the Drive-To-Own programme was designed to move drivers beyond daily operations and into long-term economic participation.
She explained that Lagride’s model intentionally supports drivers — referred to as “Captains” — to progress from operators to owners, and eventually to investors and fleet partners managing multiple vehicles.
“Lagride was created to give Lagos a modern, disciplined and technology-driven mobility system while ensuring that drivers are not left behind,” Chen said.
She added that the partnership with UBA brings thousands of drivers closer to owning productive assets and building sustainable financial futures.
“This $100 million partnership with United Bank for Africa moves thousands of captains closer to owning productive assets, managing multiple cars and building stronger financial futures,” she said.
UBA’s Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Alawuba, described the mobility sector as critical to inclusive economic growth. He said Lagride represents the type of well-structured, data-backed initiative the bank is committed to supporting across Africa.
Under Lagride’s Drive-To-Own programme, drivers who meet predefined performance and repayment criteria can transition from short-term rental models into gradual vehicle ownership plans. Ownership is tied to consistent earnings, repayment history, and operational discipline, helping to reduce the risks that have traditionally limited access to bank financing for individual drivers.
The new funding will allow Lagride to increase the number of vehicles available under this model, enabling more drivers to participate without relying on informal lending or high-cost leasing arrangements. By aggregating driver data and enforcing operational standards, Lagride acts as an intermediary between drivers and financial institutions, creating a structure individual operators typically lack.
If sustained, such financing models could expand the pool of bankable transport operators and introduce more formal credit access into Nigeria’s urban mobility sector.
The funding also comes as Lagride continues to scale its operations. The company recently added 100 electric vehicles to its fleet as part of plans to roll out over 3,000 EVs over the next three years. Lagride says the expansion supports Lagos State’s push toward cleaner, smarter mobility while positioning the platform to compete more aggressively with rivals such as Uber, Bolt, and InDrive.
With the new UBA facility, Lagride gains additional financial capacity to execute its growth plans while advancing its broader goal of transforming drivers into long-term stakeholders in Nigeria’s mobility economy.
