Marrakech – Uber launched its ride-hailing service in Agadir and Tangier on Wednesday, July 1, while reinforcing its operations in Casablanca and Rabat, its earlier points of entry into the Moroccan market. The move marks the latest phase of the American platform’s return to the country, eight years after it withdrew.
The company re-entered Morocco in November 2025, beginning in Casablanca, Rabat, and Marrakech. Users in Agadir and Tangier can now request rides through the mobile app and choose between UberX and UberXL.
The service carries the features already available across the Moroccan network: trip sharing, multiple stops, advance scheduling, cashless digital payment, and around-the-clock assistance.
The timing tracks Morocco’s tourism trajectory. The country recorded 19.8 million visitors in 2025, a 14% rise year-on-year, with tourism receipts reaching MAD 138 billion ($13.8 billion) over the full year. By the end of May 2026, Morocco had welcomed 7.7 million tourists, up 7% from the same period a year earlier. The country aims to draw 26 million visitors by 2030, when it co-hosts the FIFA World Cup.
Fayçal Ihrai, general manager of Uber Morocco, cast the expansion as part of a long-term commitment. The launch in the two cities, alongside the reinforcement in Casablanca and Rabat, “marks an important step” in that engagement, he noted in a statement.
He added that the priority is to grow responsibly and to render each trip as efficient, affordable, and simple as possible for Moroccans and visitors alike, while widening earning opportunities for drivers.
Ihrai detailed the reasoning behind the rollout in an interview with Médias24. He described the first months of operation as encouraging and pointed to strong demand for a mobility experience that is “reliable, fluid, and simple to use,” among residents and visitors alike.
Thousands of driver partners have used the platform since November, he stated, and thousands of users have moved more easily from one point to another.
Ihrai positioned Uber as a complement to existing transport rather than a replacement. The company responds to different mobility needs, he remarked, with a distinct level of service and pricing. He called for continued dialogue and collaboration among the sector’s players to shape a suitable framework as demand grows.
Read also: Only 18% of Moroccans Use Ride-Sharing Apps Despite High Satisfaction
Three criteria guided the choice of Agadir and Tangier, according to Ihrai: demand, tied to tourism, economic activity, and daily urban travel; strategic relevance within Morocco’s national growth; and operational readiness to build a reliable service with licensed transport partners.
He also linked the platform to youth employment. With urban unemployment near 35% among those under 25, he observed, Uber can offer young Moroccans access to flexible economic opportunities as independent providers. He pointed as well to the platform’s global partnership with Accor, through its ALL loyalty program, which Morocco was among the first countries to see deployed.
For now, the company keeps its focus narrow. Additional services such as meal and parcel delivery, offered elsewhere, remain off the immediate agenda, Ihrai indicated, with rides and a reliable mobility experience taking precedence.
Founded in 2010, Uber has recorded more than 68 billion trips worldwide. The company did not specify how many driver partners it has enrolled in the two new cities or its market-share targets.
Uber’s expansion unfolds against a market that Moroccan law still does not recognize. Platforms such as inDrive, Yango, and Bolt operate across major cities despite being in the same legal grey area that once pushed Uber out in 2018.
The gap has bred friction. Taxi drivers accuse ride-hailing drivers of unfair competition, and disputes have escalated into physical confrontations in some cases. In October 2025, the Ministry of Transport and Logistics said it would no longer issue licenses for services operating through smart applications, arguing that current regulations do not authorize such activity.
Uber has sought to sidestep the problem by admitting only licensed transport operators to its platform. Yet the underlying question remains unresolved. In January 2025, Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit conceded during a meeting of the House of Councillors that “we cannot formally integrate ride-hailing cars yet, but we also cannot pretend they do not exist.”
By December, his tone had shifted. Morocco will have transport applications, he told the House of Representatives, noting that “we cannot fail to keep up with the times.” The statement was widely read as confirmation that ride-hailing apps are moving toward legalization. A framework to organize the sector has become a necessity, and none yet exists.
