A Careem employee shows the logo of the company's delivery service Careen NOW. (Reuters/Satish Kumar)

Dubai’s Careem Ends Sudan Operations After Uber Takeover

Kinanty Nadia Putri
Business & Industry
Sci-Tech
Jul 03, 2019
1442
Dubai-based ride-hailing company Careem has ended its operations in Sudan as a part of a US$3.1 billion takeover deal plan by Uber, just less than a year after it launched in the country.

In an SEC filing, Uber stated that it expects the Middle Eastern company to halt its operations in the country before the takeover is completed. As a response, Careem shuts its Sudan business on June 30, however, a spokeswoman from the company said in a statement that it has no plans to close its business in other regions and makes sure that the ceasing Sudan operations won’t have any effect on its other markets.

Careem first began its ride-hailing service in Sudan in September 2018 after the economic sanctions the country faced finally lifted by the United States in 2017, followed by some other international companies which also brought their business into Sudan’s markets.
The country remains as the ‘state sponsors of terrorism’ on the US list.

Since December, Sudan has faced political instability that broke out by protesters against the rule of long-time President Omar al-Bashir. He was then ousted by the military in April, however, protesters have since experienced horrific deadly assault by the now ruling military—which the international community condemned as ‘massive massacre’.

The pull-out of Careem might be seen as a natural response to the current instability in the country that doesn’t suggest a good business environment.

Washington is considering to put more sanctions on Sudan if there was more violence after a deadly assault on protesters in Khartoum on June 3.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/careem-ends-sudan-operations-as-part-of-uber-takeover-deal-11680558

Careem , Uber , Sudan , MiddleEast , Sci-tech , Business , Ride-hailing