March 29, 2024

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Jumia closes down in Tanzania two weeks after shutting down in Cameroon

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A delivery man drives a transporter with an advertisement for Nigeria's e-commerce site Jumia in the Plateau district of Abidjan on April 24, 2019. - Jumia, the e-commerce site based in Nigeria, became on April 12, 2019 the first African start-up to make its debut on Wall Street. (Photo by ISSOUF SANOGO / AFP)ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images

Online leading Africa retailer Jumia Technologies, often called “the Amazon of Africa,” has closed its e-commerce business in Tanzania, it confirmed in a statement on Thursday, less than two weeks after shutting down in Cameroon , west Africa.

“As part of our ongoing portfolio optimisation effort, Jumia has come to the difficult decision to cease our operations in Tanzania effective on November 27,” the company said in a statement.

One week ago one of the leading online shopping platforms in Africa Jumia shut down operations in Cameroon and just two days ago, the company also shut down offices in Tanzania.

Jumia, which has been dubbed the Amazon of Africa and the first African tech firm to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has seen its share price plummet since a Wall Street debut in April 2019.

Jumia says that they are shutting down their operations in Tanzania as they look to review their portfolio.

“While Tanzania has strong potential and we’re proud of the growth we’ve collectively seen stemming from Jumia’s adoption, we have to focus our resources on our other markets,” the company wrote.

“We have to focus our resources on our other markets. It is more important now than ever to put our focus and resources where they can bring the best value and help us thrive,” said Jumia in a statement.

Jumia however said it would continue to service vendors and customers via its classifieds business. So the operation will continue in a rather smaller margin.

This is the second market the shopping platform has made an exit in less than two weeks. On November 19, the company announced its exit from Cameroon.

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