Jumia sends Kenyan workers home packing as losses continue to mount

Jumia Kenya has sent home about 6% of its local employees.
Jumia also announced the shutting down of its travel agency business, Jumia Travel, which had offices in six countries with Africa and this includes Dar es Salaam, Abidjan and Lagos.
It's not Jumia alone, however that is taking a hit, other businesses owned by Rocket Internet are also on the receiving end.

Weeks after e-commerce firm Jumia exited three African markets it seems the same fate is about to befall Kenya.

Jumia Kenya has sent home about 6% of its local employees, just weeks after the Berlin-based Jumia Technologies shut down operations in Cameroon, Tanzania and Rwanda.

“After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to undergo some headcount reductions across our business verticals and geographies,” Jumia’s local office said in a statement.

Jumia warehouse. ece-auto-gen

The company did not specify the number of affected employees but Kenya is its largest market in East Africa and of December 2018, the firm had 686 employees.

“While decisions like these are always difficult, we need to put our focus and resources where they can bring the best value and help Jumia thrive. We are supporting all impacted employees during this period of transition.”

Rocket Internet, Jumia’s parent company, made a net loss of €163.4 million (Sh18.3 billion) in the nine months ended September, representing a 39% jump from €117.3 million (Sh13.1 billion) the year before.

Jumia also announced the shutting down of its travel agency business, Jumia Travel, and transferred the operations to booking portal Travelstart.

Jumia also announced the shutting down of its travel agency business, Jumia Travel. Pulse Live Kenya

Jumia Travel had offices in six countries with Africa and this includes Dar es Salaam, Abidjan and Lagos.

It's not Jumia alone, however that is taking a hit, other businesses owned by Rocket Internet are also on the receiving end.

Vaniday Singapore, is also shutting down its operations. The beauty salon booking service announced in a statement that customers will no longer be able to book appointments beyond 15th December 2019.

Vaniday. (linkedin) Pulse Live Kenya

No reasons were provided for its closure. Vaniday used to be present in Australia, Italy, the UAE, Russia, and Brazil before all were shut down.

“It’s been an incredible journey over the past four years growing the business and bringing a better beauty experience to all of you, however due to various reasons, we will no longer be operating the Vaniday business here in Singapore,” said Vaniday in a statement.

Going forward, Jumia says it will continue to balance growth with profitability, adding that it will seek to focus on more promising markets that can help it reverse its losses.