what is Jumia
Jumia is a Pan-African technology company that is built around a marketplace, logistics service, and payment service. The logistics service enables the delivery of packages through a network of local partners while the payment services facilitate the payments of online transactions within Jumia’s ecosystem.it has partnered with more than 100,000 active sellers and individuals and is a direct competitor to Konga in Nigeria and Amazon in Egypt.
History and Background
In 2012, Jeremy Hodar and Sacha Poignonnec, ex-McKinsey consultants, founded Jumia along with Tunde Kehinde and Raphael Kofi Afaedor.
Jumia was launched in Nigeria in 2012 and expanded to five other countries: Egypt,Morocco, Ivory Coast, Kenya and South Africa. In 2014, the company launched offices in Tunisia, Tanzania , Ghana , Cameroon , Algeria and Uganda , and by 2018 it was present in 14 African countries. In Egypt, Jumia has been trying to categorize itself as one of the leading e-commerce websites.
In June 2013, Jumia launched Jumia Travel, a hotel booking platform, and Jumia Food, a food delivery platform. Jumia Deals was launched in April 2015. In 2017, Jumia launched Jumia One, an app that enables customers to pay bills such as airtime. The same year, Jumia launched JumiaPay, a secure payment for people to shop on all Jumia services. This was followed by the Jumia lending program,an initiative that allows its vendors to access business loans.
Partnerships
On 16 March 2020, Jumia announced a major partnership with Reckitt Benckiser, a global health products manufacturer, to provide a steady supply of hygiene products at affordable pricing and help hamper the spread of the Coronavirus.
In May 2020, The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with Jumia Uganda, launched an online platform to enable small and medium enterprises to connect with consumers to sustain livelihoods in view of restrictions on movement, stay-at-home measures and social distancing guidelines which were instituted as part of the measures to curtail further transmission of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
In September 2020, the Moroccan Ministry of Handicrafts teamed up with Jumia to help artisans sell their products online and alleviate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which affected the craft industry and other sectors of the economy of the North African Kingdom.
In December 2020, Jumia announced a partnership with Egypt Post to boost and develop e-commerce trade flows and industry in Egypt
In December 2021, UNICEF and Jumia partnered to help Giga connect schools in Africa to the Internet and every young person to information, opportunity, and choice.
In February 2022, Jumia announced a partnership with LocQar, a smart locker company, to bring online deliveries closer to its consumers in Ghana, ensuring that customers who order items on Jumia get to pick up their packages quicker, safer and more conveniently.
In September 2022, a partnership was announced with Zipline for deliveries dropped from their robotic aircraft. In addition, a partnership with Coca-Cola was announced to provide online shopping to consumers in Africa.
In 2023, Jumia announced a partnership to sell French retailer Leroy Merlin’s products in West Africa, part of a plan to expand its reach
Logistics
Jumia has a logistics network, which includes among its physical locations over 20 warehouses and more than 1,300 drop-off stations and pick-up stations, located across Jumia’s 11-country market, including remote areas. In 2020, Jumia announced that its logistics service is now available for use by third parties who wish to leverage its network, technology, and expertise for last-mile deliveries across 11 countries in Africa.
In August 2021, Jumia partnered with a modern eco-friendly mobility company, Solar Taxi to provide affordable and eco-friendly delivery of online orders for consumers in Ghana as the company looks to achieve a fully green footprint through the use of clean and sustainable renewable energy.
In November 2022, Jumia announced that it will be scaling back its logistics-as-a-service offering and will only be available in 3 countries (Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Morocco). Jumia Prime will also be suspended
Websites
Jumia Nigeria’s e-commerce website, Jumia.com.ng, is ranked number 1,503 in global internet engagement and the thirteenth most visited website in Nigeria in late April 2020, according to Alexa.com – a global internet traffic ranking firm. It is the sixth most-visited local website in Nigeria, as of April 2020, following a recent listing by IABC Africa Media
Country of Operation
| Country | Domain name | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Algeria | jumia.dz | May 2013 |
| Egypt | jumia.com.eg | July 2012 |
| Ghana | jumia.com.gh | May 2014 |
| Ivory Coast | jumia.ci | May 2013 |
| Kenya | jumia.co.ke | May 2013 |
| Morocco | jumia.ma | July 2012 |
| Nigeria | jumia.com.ng | June 2012 |
| Senegal | jumia.sn | May 2013 |
| South Africa | jumia.co.za | July 2012 |
| Tunisia | jumia.com.tn | |
| Uganda | jumia.ug | June 2016 |
Investors
In 2012, Kasuwa (which means Market in the Hausa Language) was launched with the support of Rocket Internet, MTN, and Millicom, and was later renamed Jumia Group. In March 2016, Jumia Group secured over €300M of funding from MTN, Rocket Internet, AXA, Goldman Sachs, Orange and CDC.
As of 2019, the largest shareholder was MTN Group.
In December 2018, Pernod Ricard invested in Jumia.
In March 2019, Jumia received 50 million euros in investments from Mastercard.
In 2020, Rocket Internet and MTN Group sold a stake in Jumia
Awards and recognition
- 2013 Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria Awards (Online Retail Brand of the Year)
- 2013 World Retail Awards
- 2014 Best Online Retail Brand of the Year Award
- 2015: E-commerce Customer Service Excellence Awards
- 2016: Jumia ranked 82nd in the Top WIRED 100 list
- 2017: Jumia is listed among the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Smartest Companies 2017. Ranking 47 on the list, Jumia is the only African company named in MIT’s top 50 smartest companies.
- 2019: Jumia crowned Tunisia’s best e-shop
- 2019: eCommerce Company of the Year Award in Nigeria
- 2019: Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana eCommerce Company of the Year
- 2021: E-commerce Website of the Year in Kenya
- 2021: Best Loyalty Programme in Kenya
- 2021: Best Logistics in Nigeria – Unilever
- 2022: E-Commerce Website of the Year in Nigeria
- 2022: HR Best Practice in E-Commerce Sector
