E-commerce site Jumia is no longer in Tanzania.
According to Techawk, Africa’s ‘Amazon’ closed shop in the country in order to focus operation in other markets. This cuts its reach to just 12 countries in the continent, which is not a significant share for an e-commerce business that uses big monikers like ‘the Amazon of Africa.’
A statement from Jumia obtained by the Nigerian publication is not different from what we have seen before. It argues that business in the East African state has not been sustainable, which adds to a series of missteps and bad press the company has been receiving after listing in the NYSE a couple of months ago.
It has also been a week or so since Jumia left the Cameroon market.
Here is the statement:
Based on our review of the path to success, we have made a difficult decision to cease our operations in Tanzania as of 27th Nov 2019.
While Tanzania has strong potential and we’re proud of the growth we’ve collectively seen stemming from Jumia’s adoption, we have to focus our resources on our other markets. This decision isn’t easy but will help put our focus and resources where they can bring the best value and help Jumia thrive.
Jumia will continue to support buyers and vendors through our classifieds portal, previously called Jumia Deals, which will now be the main portal jumia.tz. Thousands of buyers and vendors transact through this portal and we believe it will continue to become increasingly relevant in the future.
We hope Jumia will not exit more markets, and will miraculously turn things around.
Locally, Safaricom’s Masoko was forced to introduce major adjustments that saw it cut off literally all vendors. The site has since been downgraded to a replica of an online Safaricom shop that sells phones and accessories.
