Africa Internet Group adopts Jumia name for its 9 online platforms
The Jumia site. Africa Internet Group is looking to cash in on the growing popularity of the brand in Kenya and the region. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
Africa Internet Group is looking to cash in on the growing popularity of the Jumia brand in Kenya and the region to capture the highly competitive e-commerce market.
Africa Internet Group, Jumia’s parent company, has adopted the Jumia brand name for all its nine online commerce platforms in Kenya and Africa.
The group is looking to cash in on the growing popularity of the Jumia brand in Kenya and the region to capture the highly competitive e-commerce market.
“Operating under the same brand name reinforces the legitimacy of proposing other services to our customers and to our sellers. We want to have one strong brand that is trusted,” said Jumia founders and co-CEOs Sacha Poignonnec and Jeremy Hodara.
“Trust has been the key hindrance for e-commerce in Africa. Jumia is a trusted brand and we want to use one brand to capture key verticals in online commerce,” added Joe Falter, the founder of Hellofood which will now also fall under the Jumia brand.
The portals to adopt the Jumia brand include an e-commerce marketplace (Kaymu), websites offering food delivery (Hellofood) and hotel booking (Jovago), as well as online classified ads for general merchandise (Vendito), real estate (Lamudi), jobs (Everjobs) and vehicles (Carmudi).
The sites have now been renamed Jumia Market, Jumia Food, Jumia Travel, Jumia Deals, Jumia House, Jumia Jobs and Jumia Car respectively. Online retailer Jumia opened shop in Kenya in March 2013.
The Kenyan operation is now ranked third in revenue in Africa behind Nigeria and Egypt, underlining the fact that online shopping is gaining currency in Kenya. In April, Orange invested Sh8.5 billion in the group joining AXA, Goldman Sachs and longstanding investors MTN Group, Millicom and Rocket Internet as investors in the group. The financing was to accelerate the penetration of the group’s brands. The Jumia Group of platforms’ main rivals include Ringier Africa and One Africa Media which entered into a joint venture in May. Ringier One Africa Media amalgamated their car, real estate and jobs as well as classifieds businesses. Ringier Africa is behind PigiaMe and One Africa Media – BrighterMonday, BuyRentKenya and Cheki with Tiger Global Management and SEEK being the largest investment. Recently, Ringier Kenya’s Rupu partnered with Silver Tree to form Ringier Deals Group. Kenya’s high internet penetration and adoption on smartphones and internet-enabled phones has served as an accelerator for online shopping for good and services. “Kenya leads the way in Africa in access to ecommerce,” said Anne Muchoki, the Kenya Investment Authority chairlady. Kenya’s online bazaar is dominated by classified listings such as Rupu, OLX, Bidorbuy, Cheki, BuyRentKenya, Kaymu, HelloFood, Lamudi, Jovago, EasyTaxi, BrighterMonday, StayNow and Offers Africa. Most supermarkets such as Chandarana, Uchumi, Naivas, and Tuskys offer online shopping.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
