Stakeholders in private sector want the Government to step-up efforts in accelerating E-commerce business in the country.
Jumia Uganda CEO Ron Kawamara, notes that for many years, the growth of e-commerce in the country has been left in hands of private sector. ‘’ the success of e-commerce in the country has been purely private sector led, so we’ve not big beneficiaries, we’ve not received any tax incentives, we have absolutely invested in technologies, in our teams, invested in our vendors and customers and we created a remarkable value, he added
His remarks comes as Uganda’s leading e-commerce platform, Jumia, officially launches its 10th Anniversary celebrations campaign dubbed “10 years with you”, to commemorate a decade of e-commerce in the country.
"We have seen that some of actions over the last ten years introduction of OTT, increased internet taxes at time most people relied on online trading, at Jumia this was quite regressive’’ he noted.
The anniversary was announced at a partners and vendors appreciation event held at jumia new head office at Union House, Bugolobi.
Kawamara used the event to Credit the company’s continued growth and existence to consumer trust, partnerships, continuous innovation and research.
“Business sustainability is a challenge especially in the highly competitive environment in Uganda. Our success story is thanks to the continued trust that our consumers have in our brand, strong partnerships that we have established with both local and international companies; sellers, logistics partners, investment partners and others. Innovation is necessary for Jumia and we continuously innovate to provide solutions that meet our consumer needs based on feedback and trends.”
As a key investment partner to Jumia, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Innocent Fred Ejolu, the UNDP Partnerships, Innovation and Development Solutions Specialist Focal Point, Accelerator Lab, expressed gratitude to Jumia for the continued efforts to improve the livelihoods of Ugandans across the country and committed to continue supporting Jumia.
“UNDP partnered with Jumia Food in 2022 in the wake of COVID 19 with the aim of connecting informal market vendors with consumers through Jumia’s e-commerce platform. Most of the small businesses, up to 60%, were facing risk of closure. So we quickly worked with Jumia and built a partnership that enabled us to connect 7 markets in Kampala and we’ve learned quite a lot through this process, that we can close the digital divide,” Mr. Ejolu said.
He further noted that, “It is something positive and something we can capitalize on and we want to ride on Jumia’s connection with the E-Trading Association to tap into Jumia’s knowledge to help us build a more responsive regulatory environment for e-commerce and potentially look at how we can facilitate trade beyond borders using digital platforms. We are working on supporting the Ministry of Trade with an e-commerce strategy and plan and we think that is a process we can ride on to see if we can create the conditions for what we are building with Jumia to grow”.
Achievements:
Jumia has maintained leadership in the e-commerce space in Uganda as the number one online shopping destination for electronics, home appliances, fashion on Jumia, food and everyday essentials.
The company has also reached all districts in Uganda through a distribution network of over 200 pick-up stations supported by over 2000 sales agents and 12 world class logistics partners.
Jumia Food has established partnerships with over 450 restaurants across Kampala and Entebbe to deliver food, gas, water, pharmaceuticals and groceries to consumers, maintaining dominance in the food e-commerce market.
The company has also created thousands of job opportunities especially the youth and bodaboda riders.
