Imagine waking up, needing to get to work or school, and opening your favorite taxi app only to find no cars available. Or, if you do find a driver, they ask you to pay double the normal price in cash, completely ignoring the app.
This is exactly what has been happening in Nairobi, Kenya. A massive fuel strike has brought the city to a standstill, leaving thousands of passengers stranded and forcing ride-hailing drivers to make a tough choice: abandon their technology just to survive.
Why Everyone is Striking: The Fuel Problem
The trouble started when fuel prices in Kenya took a giant leap upward. The government announced new, record-high prices for petrol and diesel. Suddenly, filling up a car tank became incredibly expensive.
Because of this, a massive group of transport workers including minibus (matatu) drivers, truck drivers, motorcycle taxis (boda bodas), and digital taxi drivers decided to strike. They stopped working to protest the high cost of fuel and the heavy taxes the government puts on it.
The Struggle for the Drivers
For drivers who use apps like Uber or Bolt, the math simply stopped working.
Every time a driver takes a trip, they have to pay for fuel, car repairs, and a large fee (commission) to the app company. When fuel prices skyrocketed, the money left over for the drivers shrunk to almost nothing. Even though some app companies raised fares slightly to help, it wasn’t enough to cover the daily costs of driving. Many drivers realized they were actually losing money by working through the apps.
How Drivers and Customers Are Affected
To survive, many drivers did something drastic: they stayed on the road but turned off their apps.
• For the Drivers: By going “offline,” drivers became their own bosses again. They could look at a crowded street, find a passenger, and negotiate a price directly. If a trip usually cost 300 shillings on the app, the driver might ask for 700 shillings instead. This was the only way they could afford the expensive fuel and still take some money home to feed their families.
• For the Customers: This created a massive headache for everyday people. With public buses off the roads, commuters had no choice but to walk for miles or pay the much higher cash prices demanded by drivers. For many residents of Nairobi, a simple daily commute suddenly became a major financial burden that disrupted their entire week.
For years, technology companies have tried to make transport in Africa modern, digital, and organized. But this strike shows what happens when real-world inflation hits a breaking point. When prices get too high, the digital system fractures. Drivers and passengers are forced to go back to old-school cash negotiations just to get across the city.
