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Jumia Silently Shut its Cameroon Operations on Monday, Firing its Entire Staff

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Jumia Technologies said on Monday it had suspended its e-commerce platform activities in Cameroon because they were “not suitable” for the African state. Reuters reported.

“We came to the conclusion that our transactional portal as it is run today is not suitable to the current context in Cameroon,” Jumia said in a statement.

An anonymous source at the company in Cameroon told Reuters that Jumia had chosen to prioritize growth over profitability. “We wanted to see how business evolved. We can come back, but for now we’re closing (to have) time to study the market.”

The shutdown which comes barely a week after its latest earnings which showed more losses despite the increased prominence of its payment platform is allegedly linked to an attempt by the Rocket Internet-backed company to arrest the cash deluge that has seen the company’s losses rise to nearly a USD 1 Bn since kicking of operations in 2012.

The firm’s shares have tumbled from its Wall Street initial public offering price of $14.50 in April, hitting a record low of $5.10 on Monday after third-quarter results missed revenue estimates for the second time in three quarters.

“Based on our review, we came to the conclusion that our transactional portal as it is run today is not suitable to the current context in Cameroon,” the company said in a statement, adding that its e-commerce operations there had been suspended.

The closure of its Jumia Cameroon is just the latest following the closure of its businesses in both Congo and Gabon, signalling a tough e-commerce terrain in Central Africa. In 2018, Jumia quit its core e-commerce business in Rwanda, continuing only its food delivery service, Jumia Food, in the East African country.

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