Bolt sacks 22 workers in Nigeria

Bolt Nigeria, a technology-driven ride-hailing platform, on Tuesday, said its restructuring efforts affected 22 employees that were laid off.

The firm’s Communications Manager, Femi Adeyemo, confirmed this on the telephone on Tuesday.

Adeyemo emphasised that Bolt Nigeria was not facing financial difficulties but was instead undergoing a restructuring process.

“22 people out of 45 from a department were relieved of their jobs, not nearly half [of the entire workforce] as claimed by some reports.

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“The department where it happened has 45 workers, not the whole Bolt. That number is not half of the workforce of Bolt,” he said.

“The affected employees will receive comprehensive severance packages to support their transition to new career opportunities,” Adeyemo added.

Subsequently, the e-hailing firm in a statement, said, “Bolt has never done and is not doing any layoffs, which implies massively downsizing the team because the company is struggling financially. We have made the difficult decision to discontinue collaboration with 22 employees in Nigeria.

“This decision comes as we have been going through the process of restructuring a considerable number of customer support and operational processes in the country. We have offered the people who will be leaving us severance packages that will support their transition to new career opportunities.

“This decision does not affect the quality of our products for riders and drivers. We see great potential in Nigeria, and we will stand by our investment commitments in all our African markets.”

Bolt (formerly known as Taxify) entered the Nigerian market in 2016 and surpassed 150 million customers in over 45 countries and 500 cities.

It noted that it now has over 3.5 million partners (drivers and couriers) using the app to earn a living, including over one million in Africa alone. [The Punch]