Jumia to end food delivery across seven markets

One of Africa's leading e-commerce platforms Jumia Technologies will reportedly cease its food delivery operations across 7 markets by the end of this month.

Reuters reported Wednesday (Dec. 13) that the company will instead focus on growing its core online retail business.

Jumia Food represented about 11% of Jumia's general merchandise value for the nine months ended Sept. 30.

The food delivery service currently operates in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Ivory Coast.

Jumia has been cutting costs in order to turn profitable.

The company which was founded in 2012 was dubbed the“the Amazon of Africa.” 

In April 2019, it became the first tech stock from the continent to list on Wall Street.

In mid-November, news website Teh crunch reported that Jumia's customers sit around 2.3 million, down 24.3% from the 3rd quarter of 2022. On a more positive note, the firm reported its lowest losses since its initial public offering at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).