Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Starlink to South Africa: ‘We are ready to invest’

      17 June 2025

      Vodacom CEO Joosub bags R71m in pay – but taxman will take a big cut

      17 June 2025

      Major rift opens between Microsoft and OpenAI

      17 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      South African AI energy start-up in R32m funding round

      17 June 2025
    • World

      Trump Mobile dials into politics, profit and patriarchy

      17 June 2025

      Samsung plots health data hub to link users and doctors in real time

      17 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E2: South Africa’s digital battlefield

      16 June 2025

      Yahoo tries to make its mail service relevant again

      13 June 2025

      Qualcomm shows off new chip for AI smart glasses

      11 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025

      South Africa unveils big state digital reform programme

      12 May 2025

      Is this the end of Google Search as we know it?

      12 May 2025
    • TCS

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025

      TCS | Sentiv, and the story behind the buyout of Altron Nexus

      3 June 2025

      TCS | Signal restored: Unpacking the Blue Label and Cell C turnaround

      28 May 2025
    • Opinion

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025

      Digital giants boost South African news media – and get blamed for it

      29 May 2025

      Solar panic? The truth about SSEG, fines and municipal rules

      14 April 2025

      Data protection must be crypto industry’s top priority

      9 April 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » News » Jumia shows e-commerce in Africa is hard work

    Jumia shows e-commerce in Africa is hard work

    By Agency Staff20 September 2019
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    Faulty payment systems, patchy network coverage, parking woes and unreliable customers are just a day in the life of a typical delivery driver for Jumia Technologies in Lagos.

    The company dubbed “Africa’s Amazon” employs about 700 people in Nigeria to deliver goods including laptops, jewellery and high-heeled shoes to customers in offices, factories and even bus stops around towns including the country’s sprawling commercial capital. The process can be a chaotic affair, and much can go wrong.

    “I am happy when I don’t have any point-of-sale issue or problems on my phone, because sometimes the network is poor,” Umoru Yusuf, a Jumia driver, said as he clutched the wheel of his branded grey van. “Sometimes, about 10 customers can call to say they are no longer interested in purchasing an item, so they cancel their orders.”

    Sometimes, about 10 customers can call to say they are no longer interested in purchasing an item, so they cancel their orders

    It’s easy to see why Jumia’s investors have a concern over the company’s high level of failed deliveries across its 14 countries — some 40%, including cancellations and returns — and question the viability of ordering goods online and having them delivered in major African cities. The scepticism is evident in the share price, down about 25% since its high-profile initial public offering in New York in April.

    During a four-hour journey with the 39-year-old Yusuf between 10am and 2pm on 9 September, packages were delivered to eight customers, including workers at the local operations of drinks giant Coca-Cola and chocolate maker Cadbury Nigeria. Locating recipients was one problem — involving an average 15-minute wait and multiple phone calls — and that was before the mobile payment system stopped working.

    Jumia Pay

    When that happened, Yusuf had to drive a customer to an ATM to withdraw about 140 000 naira (R5 700) in cash. That increases the safety risk, as drivers have to count large wads of notes in public spaces. Sometimes, he just gives up and goes back to HQ.

    Jumia’s main solution to the issue is the development of Jumia Pay, a more reliable mobile payment platform that can be used to transfer funds upfront. “Up to 75% of our business in Africa is pay on delivery and 25% is prepaid,” Tolulope George-Yanwah, services country manager for Nigeria, said in an interview. The latter number should “improve month-on-month due to Jumia Pay — a lot of people are adopting it”, she said.

    Founded by former McKinsey & Co consultants Sacha Poignonnec and Jeremy Hodora in 2012, Jumia has grown a customer base to more than 4.8 million people across 14 African countries. The company’s widening losses to €66.7-million in the second quarter have contributed to the share price weakness, as has a damning analyst report by short seller specialist Citron, which highlighted the cancellation levels among other warning signs.

    Citron took “some of the risk factors that we have volunteered in our prospectus and just tried to paint a negative picture”, CEO Poignonnec said in an interview. “The best thing we can do is to continue to execute our strategy and show that we are very good company and we deliver very good results.”

    Another issue for the CEO to address is corruption. Jumia said last month it identified improper transactions involving a team of Nigerian sales consultants called J-Force that amounted to as much as 4% of first-quarter sales.

    “If there is a fraud case, it’s our job to identify it, solve it, and create a remediation plan so that it does not happen again,” the CEO said.

    For driver Yusuf, the main priority is to successfully deliver the items to recipients, as that is the measure that decides his pay. Customers who don’t meet him or change their mind about their purchase directly impact his salary.

    “It is when I deliver I get paid,” he said. “I can’t be happy when I return items.”  — Reported by Tope Alake, with assistance from Loni Prinsloo, (c) 2019 Bloomberg LP



    Jeremy Hodora Jumia Sacha Poignonnec Tolulope George-Yanwah top
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous Article‘5G is for show-offs’
    Next Article Age of self-regulation in tech is over: Microsoft

    Related Posts

    South African online fashion retailer Zando to close down

    16 October 2024

    Jumia doubles down on Nigeria in push to turn profitable

    16 May 2024

    Starlink terminals are falling into the wrong hands

    26 March 2024
    Company News

    Altron: a brand journey, a birthday celebration and a bet on Joburg’s future

    17 June 2025

    7 benefits of social media integration in WordPress

    17 June 2025

    Paratus Zimbabwe and PowerTel strike milestone deal

    17 June 2025
    Opinion

    Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

    2 June 2025

    South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

    2 June 2025

    Digital giants boost South African news media – and get blamed for it

    29 May 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.