Companies

US parcel delivery firm UPS partners with Jumia to expand in Africa

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UPS will use Jumia, the first African tech firm to list at the New York Stock exchange (NYSE), to offer door to door parcel delivery. AFP PHOTO

Jumia on Monday announced a partnership with parcel delivery firm United Parcel Services Inc (UPS) that will see the United States company use its distribution network in Africa to expand.

UPS will use Jumia, the first African tech firm to list at the New York Stock exchange (NYSE), to offer door-to-door parcel delivery.

The partnership will initially start in Kenya, Nigeria and Morocco where Jumia has large presence and distribution networks.

The deal means that customers receiving or sending packages will be able to do so through Jumia stations.

“This partnership will help small and medium-sized businesses in Africa that make up 90 percent of all businesses on the continent and are the backbone of the economy,” said Gregory Goba Ble, UPS  engineering and operations vice president in charge of the Indian subcontinent, Middle East and Africa.

The deal will see Jumia access UPS’ network in 220 countries, making it easy for African customers to send packages for kin, friends, and business associates abroad. The NYSE-listed firm said they plan to bring more countries once the rollout is complete.

“Today, we are helping other businesses overcome these infrastructure challenges by giving them access to our logistics platform. We are delighted and humbled by the opportunity to partner up with UPS, a global logistics leader, to offer them last mile solutions in Africa,” said Apoorva Kumar, Jumia senior logistics vice president.

“We view this as a validation of the strength of our logistics platform as well as an incentive to double down on our efforts to further enhance our services and build a world-class logistics business in Africa.”

Jumia has 1.5 million users in Kenya and 8 million on the continent. Founded in 2012 by French entrepreneurs Sacha Poignonnec and Jeremy Hodara, the e-commerce company operates in 16 countries with over 3,000 pickup stations. 

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