JUMIA Expands Operations In Uganda, Enters Ghana And Cameroon

 Africa e-retail giant, Jumia is expanding its reach into three new markets - Uganda, Ghana and Cameroon- after successfully launching in 5 key African markets in the past two years.

5 months ago, Jumia had set up a local office in Kampala, Uganda that relied on deliveries from Kenya. The move to launch in Uganda will now see it revamp the office to a full fledge subsidiary with its own warehouse like other businesses across the continent.

Its Ghana and Cameroon offices will be open in the coming weeks.

When successfully launched, Jumia’s business will be live in 8 African nations.

Jumia co-founder Sacha Poignonnec told Reuters in an interview that although these markets are not altogether internet savvy compared to other African nations; he says there is a huge appetite for the service.

According to global consulting firm McKinsey, 16 percent of sub-Saharan Africans (about 160 million people) are connected to the Internet, compared with nearly 75 percent in Europe and 32 percent in Asia.

However it says an increase in the use of Smartphone which rides on the surge of mobile Internet access would help African e-commerce sales grow to about $75 billion by 2025.

In Nigeria for example, more than 50 million of its 170 million people are connected to the internet with majority of this number have more than one mobile phones.

Jumia will ride on the popularity of its two largest investors –MTN and Millicom (owner of Tigo) which are leading telecommunication service providers in the new markets. Together, the telecommunications operators have more than 250 million subscribers in Africa.

The online retailer which has more than 1,500 employees at it reach intends to create a team of about 30 people in each country that will be responsible for customer service, packing, dispatch and delivery.

Jumia is Africa's leading online e-retailer that offers variety of goods including electronics, home appliances, mobile devices and beauty products from its local warehouses. It is owned by the Africa Internet Holding (AIH) which owns seven other online businesses in Africa including Hellofood, Javago and EasyTaxi.