Jumia

Jumia is an online marketplace for electronics, and fashion among others targeting several African countries. The company is also a logistics service, which enables the shipment and delivery of packages from sellers to consumers, and a payment service, which facilitates transactions among participants active and Jumia's platform in selected markets.[2] It has partnered with more than 50,000 local African companies[3] and individuals and is a direct competitor to Konga in Nigeria.

Jumia Technologies AG
TypePublic
NYSE: JMIA
IndustryInternet, Retail, Ecommerce, Marketplace
Founded2012
HeadquartersLagos, Nigeria[1]
Key people
  • Jérémy Hodara
  • (CEO)
  • Sacha Poignonnec
  • (CEO)
Number of employees
5100
Websitegroup.jumia.com

History

In 2012, Jeremy Hodara[4] and Sacha Poignonnec,[5] ex-McKinsey consultants, founded Jumia along with Tunde Kehinde and Raphael Kofi Afaedor.[6]

Jumia was launched in Lagos in 2012 and expanded to five other countries : Egypt,[7] 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.[8] In Egypt, Jumia has been trying to categorize itself as one of the leading e-commerce websites.[9]

In June 2013, Jumia launched Jumia Travel, a hotel booking platform, and Jumia Food, a food delivery platform.[10] Jumia Deals was launched in April 2015. In 2017, Jumia launched Jumia One,[11] an app that enables customers to pay bills such as airtime. The same year, Jumia launched Jumia Pay,[12] a secure payment for people to shop on all Jumia services. This was followed by the Jumia lending program,[13] an initiative that allows its vendors to access business loans. Jumia would later partner with Amadeus technology[14] to launch a platform that enables people to book flights.

In South Africa, Jumia operates under the brand name Zando (zando.co.za),[15] focusing only on online fashion retail.

Juliet Anammah: Chairwoman of Jumia Nigeria and Head of Institutional Affairs, Africa

At the end of 2015, the founders of Jumia appointed Juliet Anammah as the CEO of Jumia Nigeria so that they could concentrate on global control of the company.[16] Massimiliano Spalazzi took over from Juliet as CEO in Nigeria in January 2020 and Juliet was appointed as the chairwoman of Jumia Nigeria and the Head of Institutional Affairs, Africa.[17]

In 2015, Jumia generated $234 million in revenue, which stands for a 265% growth from 2014. In 2016, Jumia became the continent’s first unicorn being valued over 1 billion USD.[18] In late November 2018, Jumia partnered with cryptocurrency company Telcoin to enhance payment service capabilities throughout their areas of operation.[19] The same month, Jumia and Carrefour signed a partnership to sell online products in Africa.[20]

In April 2019, Jumia went public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and raised $196 million in net proceeds.[21] The share price, initially offered at $14.50, rose more than 200% in the first three trading sessions.[22] The first analyst papers release 21 days after the IPO rated the company at stock targets between 27 and 40 USD.[23] After reaching a peak of nearly $50 on 1 May 2019, the share value has declined to under $5/share by year's end.

In November 2019, Jumia announced the suspension of its e-commerce operations in Cameroon effective on 18 November.[24] The company concluded that its transactional portal is currently not suitable to the current environment in Cameroon. As part of the portfolio optimization effort, Jumia later ceased operations in Tanzania effective on 27 November 2019.[25] While Jumia operations in Tanzania provided many opportunities for customers and vendors, the company said it needed to focus its resources on other markets that can bring the best value and help Jumia thrive. The decision, the company affirmed, would help it achieve greater success in the future.[26] On 9 December 2019, Jumia suspended Jumia Food in Rwanda, making it the 3rd country in two months as part of a continuous monitoring of the business environment and operating costs in the markets in which it operates.[27] Jumia however vowed to continue doing business online in those countries on the classifieds portals, previously called Jumia Deals.[28]

On 9 December 2019, Travelstart entered into a distribution and commercial agreement with Jumia Travel, Jumia’s hotel booking platform, to power the latter’s pan-African online travel booking portal.[29] Under the agreement, Travelstart took control of the sales, fulfilment and customer service aspects of Jumia Travel online booking websites in all its operating territories.

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.[30][31]

Jumia Nigeria's ecommerce 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.[32][33]

Fraud allegations

In May 2019, the short-seller Andrew Left of Citron Research referenced Jumia as a "securities fraud", citing material discrepancies regarding key financial metrics among a confidential investor presentation and Jumia’s F-1 filing to the SEC from its April, 2019 IPO.[34] Andrew Left is known on Wall Street for making several claims of fraud and has faced calls to be investigated.[35] Jumia's share price sank more than 50% in one week, after the report was published.[36]

Investors

In 2012, Kasuwa (which means Market in 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.[37]

As of 2019, the largest shareholder was MTN Group.[38]

In December 2018, Pernod Ricard invested in Jumia.[39]

In March 2019, Jumia received 50 million euros in investments from Mastercard.[40]

Awards and recognition
  • 2013 Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria Awards (Online Retail Brand of the Year) [41]
  • 2013 World Retail Awards[42]
  • 2014 Best Online Retail Brand of the Year Award [43]
  • 2015: E-commerce Customer Service Excellence Awards [44]
  • 2016: Jumia ranked 82nd in the Top WIRED 100 list [45]
  • 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.[46]
  • 2019: Jumia crowned Tunisia's best e-shop [47]
  • 2019: eCommerce Company of the Year Award in Nigeria [48]
  • 2019: Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana eCommerce Company of the Year.[49]

References
  1. Jumia Technologies AG Annual Report 2020
  2. "Hesham Safwat, o-CEO, Jumia". 28 November 2018.
  3. "the Alibaba of Africa that's getting ready to IPO". 31 March 2019.
  4. "Interview:E-commerce:Jérémy Hodara a créé la première licorne africaine Jumia". 11 November 2018.
  5. "Interview: Sacha Poignonnec Co-CEO, Jumia". 26 November 2018.
  6. Bright, Jake. "An E-Commerce Challenge in Africa: Selling to People Who Aren't Online". The New Yorker. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  7. "Africa's E-Commerce Giant Sets Sights on This Promising Market". 7 May 2018.
  8. "Rocket Internet's African e-commerce startup Jumia ready for next stage". 8 January 2018.
  9. "Business Today to honor Egypt's influential companies February". EgyptToday. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  10. "Jumia Food launches online pre-payments in Kenya and Uganda". 28 August 2018.
  11. "Jumia launches multi-purpose e-commerce app". 26 March 2018.
  12. "E-commerce : Jumia désormais maître de ses transactions". 2 July 2018.
  13. "E-commerce specialist Jumia aims to grow lending service". 9 July 2018.
  14. "Africa paves the way for travel innovation with the launch of a new Travel Marketplace". 17 October 2018.
  15. "Buy Shoes, Clothing & Fashion | Online Shopping at Zando". www.zando.co.za. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  16. text, I. love telling stories using; pictures; details, videos It’s all about the little (28 December 2015). "Jumia Nigeria Appoints Juliet Anammah as new CEO". Techpoint.Africa. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  17. Paul, Emmanuel (22 January 2020). "Jumia Group appoints Massimiliano Spalazzi as Jumia Nigeria CEO". Techpoint.Africa. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  18. "Meet the Startup Building a Market From Scratch to Become Africa's Alibaba". 25 May 2018.
  19. "Telcoin partners Jumia to enhance service and efficiency". 26 November 2018.
  20. "Carrefour signs deal with Jumia to offer online shopping in Kenya". 29 November 2018.
  21. "Shares of African e-commerce company Jumia jump 71 percent in debut". Reuters. 12 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  22. Olukoya, Samed (16 April 2019). "Jumia Jumps 204% in Three Days |". Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  23. Johnson, Mo (10 May 2019). "Jumia Technologies (JMIA) Research Coverage Started at Stifel Nicolaus". Tech Know Bits. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  24. "The 'Amazon of Africa' shutters in Cameroon — just before Black Friday". 20 November 2019.
  25. "Jumia shuts Tanzania e-commerce business in portfolio review". 28 November 2019.
  26. "Jumia shuts Tanzania e-commerce business in portfolio review". 28 November 2019.
  27. "Jumia Food to close Rwanda operations". 9 December 2019.
  28. "Jumia shuts down in Cameroon". 19 November 2019.
  29. "Travelstart takes over rival Jumia Travel, plans to tap new customers". 10 December 2019.
  30. Okonji, Emma (19 March 2020). "Nigeria: Jumia, Reckitt Benckiser Partner Against COVID-19". allAfrica.com. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  31. "Jumia and Reckitt Benckiser Partner to Provide Consumers Access to Hygiene Products in Africa". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  32. Obi, Gospel O. (2 May 2020). "Top 20 Local Websites in Nigeria in 2020". www.iabcafrica.com. IABC Africa. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  33. "Top sites in Nigeria", Alexa Page Rank, 23 April 2020, retrieved 26 April 2020
  34. Bright, Jake. "Africa e-tailer Jumia issues post-IPO results amid short-sell assault". TechCrunch. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  35. "Jumia responds to citron fraud claims". Quartz Africa. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  36. Garcia, Tonya. "Citron Research's Andrew Left slams Jumia as a 'fraud' and 'worthless'". Market Watch. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  37. "Tech conglomerate raises €50 million funding round from CDC". Pulse.ng. 13 March 2019.
  38. "Jumia to be first African start-up on NYSE". BBC News. 7 August 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  39. "Pernod Ricard invests in Africa's online retailer Jumia". Reuters. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  40. "Mastercard to Join Investors in Africa Online Retailer Jumia". Bloomberg. 1 April 2019.
  41. "Jumia Nigeria wins best online retail brand of the year award". 31 January 2014.
  42. "Rocket Internet's Jumia Becomes First African Company to Win Top World Retail Award". 10 October 2013.
  43. "Jumia Nigeria wins best online retail brand of the year award". 21 January 2014.
  44. "Jumia bags win at Nigeria customer service awards 2015". 16 October 2015.
  45. "The WIRED 100". 26 August 2016.
  46. "50 Smartest Companies 2017". 1 January 2017.
  47. "Jumia wins best online store award in Tunisia". 27 December 2019.
  48. "Jumia Set To Receive E-Commerce Company Of The Year Award For Promoting MSMEs". 31 January 2019.
  49. "List of winners at CIMG Awards 2019". MyJoyOnline.com. 14 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
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