News / Rising costs see African e-commerce pioneer Jumia retreat as losses mount

© Sharaf Maksumov

E-commerce platform Jumia, one of Africa’s first ’unicorns’, is retreating, amid losses.

It has pulled its food and drink delivery service from Rwanda, as of yesterday, and the move follows the closure of its e-commerce businesses in Tanzania and Cameroon last month. 

Like other e-commerce businesses, such as Latin America’s Mercado Libre, it is losing “a significant amount of money,” according to Cargo Facts Consulting.

In the first three quarters, it spent €46m on fulfilment, some two-thirds of which was shipping, noted ...