Pictorial depiction of Bolt Food's challenges and exit from Nigeria
Bolt Food’s exit from Nigeria shook the industry. But it wasn’t because it happened, it was because it was avoidable.
Article Brief & Key Nuggets:
- Bolt Food shut down its Nigerian operations in December 2023, having struggled to remain profitable in a challenging delivery market.
- Key challenges included soaring fuel prices, inflation, inadequate road infrastructure, and intense local competition from players such as Chowdeck and Glovo.
- The lesson for food delivery companies is that profit margins, local focus, and operational discipline matter more than discounts or scale.
The Wrong Growth Game: What Bolt Food Got Wrong in Nigeria
Bolt Food entered Nigeria in 2021 with big promises. It launched in Lagos, partnered with over 10,000 restaurants, and delivered more than 1 million meals. But by December 7, 2023, it was gone.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s food delivery business continued to have demand. Companies like Chowdeck stayed, and some even grew. So why did Bolt Food leave?
The company chose to prioritize reach over margins, let costs outweigh earnings, and it ignored signals that its unit economics were flawed. Instead of fixing leaks, Bolt Food tried to pour in more volume. That decision turned its expansion into a burden.
Why Food Delivery Breaks So Easily in Nigeria
The math breaks first, then the riders, and then the service.
Food delivery logistics in Nigeria is constantly battling forces that disregard business plans.
For example, in 2023, the removal of fuel subsidies in Nigeria led to petrol prices increasing by over 200%. And delivery riders, mostly on motorcycles, couldn’t refuel at the old prices.
Companies like Bolt Food raised delivery fees by up to 50%, hoping that would plug the hole.
It didn’t. Inflation also choked every step of the operation. And food costs soared, reaching a peak of 30%.
Couriers wanted higher pay, restaurants increased their prices, and customers became more selective, ordering less.
The poor infrastructure and bad roads frequently caused breakdowns of motorcycles, and drivers constantly got lost due to missing street signs and GPS solutions that lacked precision.
Traffic jams slowed down deliveries, making it impossible for couriers to fulfill enough orders within a single shift. And when food arrived late or cold, customers blamed the platform. Ultimately, Bolt Food could not win on paper.
Now add competition. Jumia Food was already entrenched, and Gokada had its own courier network.
Newer players, such as Glovo, entered the market with discounts that temporarily disrupted the market, and Chowdeck, a local startup, delivered faster and had a better model for maximizing profit per meal.
Bolt Food was stuck between leaner startups and deeper pockets. It was a war fought on terrain over which the company had no control.
Read more: How UPS’ ORION Algorithm Transformed Its Route Optimization.
How Bolt Food Tried to Compete And Failed
Bolt Food’s operations suffered because it played the wrong game.
It matched the discounts competitors were offering, but couldn’t afford them. It scaled delivery areas but didn’t scale service quality. Onboarded restaurants but lost key partners like Chicken Republic to Glovo.
Bolt Food couldn’t guarantee service times in clogged cities with weak mapping systems.
As each friction point stacked up, Bolt Food raised prices. That drove users to apps with cheaper offers or faster riders.
Bolt had no edge, and the company was spending more to retain fewer customers. Orders dropped, and the complaints rose. Even after delivering 1 million meals, Bolt Food couldn’t keep up with itself.
Scaling quickly without addressing delivery costs ultimately led to Bolt Food’s exit from Nigeria; however, the company could have avoided it.
Jumia Food Shutdown: A Mirror of the Same Mistakes
Bolt Food’s exit from Nigeria wasn’t the only in 2023.
Jumia Food also shut down in December 2023. Before that, the company had a rich history, having operated for over 10 years. The company had the largest restaurant base, but it never turned a profit.
Delivery costs outweighed fees. And once it stopped giving out free deliveries, users dropped off. A sign that the logistics process itself left more to be desired.
Jumia’s CEO said the quiet part loud: food delivery “does not offer the same upside.” He was right. Not in Nigeria and not with that model.
When you spend more delivering a meal than what you earn from it, scale only speeds up the failure.
Read more: Jumia’s Food Delivery Service Shutdown: What Really Happened?
The Chowdeck Success Story: A Masterclass in Local Execution
Chowdeck didn’t spend its way to growth. The company earned it.
In 2021, Chowdeck launched with a tight playbook. No discounts, no rush to enter every city, and no profitless orders. By October 2023, it had over 60,000 active users and a monthly order value of ₦ 1 billion.
Although Chowdeck operated in just four cities — Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Ibadan — each one was well-served.
Here’s what ChowDeck did right:
- Profitable Deliveries: Chowdeck didn’t lose money per order. It charged enough to cover fuel, rider pay, and support, starting with a 25% commission take.
- Fast Rollout Adjustments: When the fuel subsidy was removed, it was the first to raise prices. Not with apology, but with explanation. And it worked because users stayed.
- Happy Riders, Better Service: It paid its 1,300+ couriers well, averaging $70 per week. Couriers stayed, routes improved, and food arrived quicker.
- Local Execution Over Flashy Marketing: It didn’t flood Instagram with promos. It fixed the app, optimized routes, and grew through word of mouth.
Chowdeck beat Bolt Food by refusing to play the VC-funded subsidy game. It grew on margins, not money burns.
Read more: Chowdeck’s Food Delivery Principles and Resilience in Nigeria.
Lessons for Logistics Teams and Food Platforms
Most exits in business come from ignoring cost signals. Bolt Food was no different. The Nigerian food logistics supply chain lessons here are tactical and clear.
1. Every Delivery Must Be Profitable
Build pricing and delivery ops to break even at the order level. If it costs $1 to deliver a meal, your fees and commissions must match or beat it. Don’t chase growth that bleeds.
2. Subsidies Should Have an Expiry Date
Glovo can afford short-term discounts. But unless there’s a path to user retention and unit profitability, discounts become poison. Chowdeck didn’t need them.
3. Hyperlocal Delivery Beats Wide Coverage
Focus first on neighborhoods with high density and familiar couriers. Bolt Food went wide and lost speed. Chowdeck, on the other hand, stayed narrow and delivered faster.
4. Adapt Logistics to Local Realities
Bike deliveries work in Lagos, but only with smart routing. If maps don’t work, build your own. If roads destroy bikes, plan for maintenance. Logistics in Nigeria needs its own tools, not a copy-paste from Europe.
5. Partnerships Can Save or Sink You
Bolt lost Chicken Republic to Glovo. That one loss may have cost thousands of monthly orders. Build restaurant deals that reward loyalty and co-invest in success.
Read more: Key Lessons From UPS Logistics Failure in 2013 and Failed Redemption in 2014.
Building Smarter African Last-Mile Operations
Logistics operations don’t fail because of demand. They fail because costs outpace revenue.
Food delivery is a prime example. Logistics companies across various sectors, including pharmaceuticals, fashion, and fresh produce, face the same core issue: how to deliver fast, accurately, and profitably in high-friction markets?
Start with these changes:
- Invest in unit economics tech: Pricing tools, order clustering, live traffic routing.
- Run leaner cities before national scale: Prove delivery math in one place before ten.
- Treat riders as network assets, not expendables: Paid, trained riders deliver better and stick around longer.
- Raise prices when needed and explain them honestly: Customers who understand why you charge more will stay if the service is effective.
Bolt Food’s exit from Nigeria wasn’t inevitable. But it was predictable.
Food delivery companies that learn from this can avoid repeating the same mistake. They’ll grow on strength, not noise, they’ll stay when others leave, and they’ll win where others fail.
Obinabo Tochukwu Tabansi is a supply chain digital writer (Content writer & Ghostwriter) helping professionals and business owners across Africa learn from real-world supply chain wins and setbacks and apply proven strategies to their own operations. He also crafts social content for logistics and supply chain companies, turning their solutions and insights into engaging posts that drive visibility and trust.
