UPS partners with Jumia for last mile shipping in Africa

The first African technology company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Jumia has announced a partnership with UPS. UPS will leverage Jumia infrastructure to offer its customers an extended range of delivery solutions, including door to door package delivery and collection, with a variety of payment options.

The collaboration will initially cover Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, with initial plans for expansion to Ghana and Ivory Coast.

“This partnership will help small and medium-sized businesses in Africa that make up 90 percent of all businesses on the continent and are the backbone of the economy,” said Gregory Goba Ble, Vice President of Engineering and Operations for Indian subcontinent, Middle East and Africa, UPS.

“UPS’s asset-light approach, like the Jumia partnership, offers a pathway for businesses to quickly and reliably connect to new customers around the world through our global network, potentially accelerating their revenue growth.”

Jumia stock rallied by 7.8 percent on the back of this announcement, which is good for a company that lost its unicorn status within a year of its April 2019 Wall Street IPO. The company once heralded as “Africa’s Amazon” is looking to correct its investment path after growing expenses at the close of 2021 further harmed its outlook.

“At the beginning of our journey, 10 years ago, logistics infrastructure was one of the most challenging aspects of our operating environment. This challenge was a catalyst for us to build an unparalleled logistics platform in Africa offering our sellers and consumers reliable, convenient and cost-effective delivery services,” said Apoorva Kumar, Senior Vice President Logistics, Jumia.

“Today, we are helping other businesses overcome these infrastructure challenges by giving them access to our logistics platform. We are delighted and humbled by the opportunity to partner up with UPS, a global logistics leader, to offer them last mile solutions in Africa. We view this as a validation of the strength of our logistics platform as well as an incentive to double down on our efforts to further enhance our services and build a world-class logistics business in Africa.”

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