Jumia, the Rocket Internet-driven “Amazon for Africa,” today announced that it will extend its services to Uganda.
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Jumia also operates in Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, and the Ivory Coast. As with these countries, Ugandans can order goods and pay in cash once the items have been received — “a made for Africa” method which is called ‘Cash-On-Delivery’ (COD).
Co-founder of JUMIA, Jeremy Hodara says that after launching in other North, East and West African territories in less than one and a half years, the company “saw the same potential” in Uganda.
Jumia’s growth has been remarkable. Midway through last year, the company moved into a new 90 000 square foot warehouse in Lagos which houses 500 new workers and created what Jumia claimed to be the largest ecommerce campus in West Africa at the time.
At the same time the ecommerce site, together with partners Kaymu, Vamido and hellofood, secured U$35-million in funding from Millicom and an additional undisclosed sum from J.P. Morgan and Summit Partners — the round, represented the largest investment in a Nigerian eCommerce startup at the time.
The company’s growth hasn’t been all smooth sailing however. Earlier this year, rumours started floating around that Jumia co-founders, Tunde Kehinde and Raphael Afaedor, were leaving the company to pursue other ventures — interesting moves at a relatively young company.
