African e-commerce giant Jumia Technologies will close its South African online fashion retailer Zando and its Tunisian operations by the end of the year to sharpen its focus on its other markets, according to its CEO, Francis Dufay.
Jumia is taking aggressive steps to reduce costs and achieve profitability, including workforce reductions, exiting everyday grocery and food delivery services, and limiting delivery options to those directly tied to its e-commerce business.
“The trajectory of the countries did not align with the strategy of the group,” CEO Francis Dufay said, citing complex macroeconomics, the competitive environment and low medium term potential for growth and profitability.
“We believe it’s the right decision,” he added. “It enables us to refocus our resources on the other nine markets, where we see more promising trends in terms of scale and profitability.”
Jumia’s current markets include Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria. According to Dufay, success in any of these regions could “easily enable us to recover” the volumes lost from exiting South Africa and Tunisia.
Dufay noted that the two countries represented just 2.7% of total orders and 3% of gross merchandise value in the six months ending June 30.
Zando.co.za, founded in 2012, has grown into a popular online fashion platform in South Africa, while Jumia has operated in Tunisia for a decade, offering general merchandise under its brand.
