Jumia Technologies, the Africa-focused e-commerce giant, plans to close its South African online fashion retailer Zando and wind down its operations in Tunisia by the end of the year, according to the company’s CEO.
These decisions reflect Jumia’s focus on refining its business model and improving operational efficiency across Africa.
“The development of the countries was not in line with the group’s strategy,” said CEO Francis Dufay, citing complex macroeconomic conditions, the competitive environment and low potential for growth and profitability in the medium term.
The closures will result in the loss of around 110 jobs, although some employees may be transferred to other parts of the company.
The decision to exit South Africa and Tunisia is supported by data. In the first half of the year, these two markets contributed only 2.7% of Jumia’s total orders and 3% of its gross merchandise value (GMV), underlining their minimal impact on the company’s overall performance.
Jumia’s focus is now shifting to its stronger markets, including Egypt, Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria, as it winds down operations in South Africa and Tunisia.
According to CEO Francis Dufay, success in any one of these key regions could “easily allow us to recoup the lost business” from the two exiting markets.
“We believe it’s the right decision. It allows us to refocus our resources on the other nine markets where we see more promising trends in terms of scale and profitability,” he added.
