One of the online trade giant “Jumia Technologies” has said it is suspending its operations in the country after six years of delivering food and drinks, a senior manager of the company confirmed to APA in Kigali on Tuesday.
Rwanda is the third country in Africa where the continent’s largest e-commerce platform is shutting operation in a space of one month.
The company’s Managing Director for the Rwandan operations, Albert Munyabugingo explained that the group has been “struggling with profitability” in different markets, which informed the decision to suspend some operations.
“We are looking to refocus our business using market research”, Munyabugingo told APA without elaborating.
The exit of Jumia from the market comes at time the government is encouraging individuals and businesses to embrace e-Commerce as part of its wider strategy to digitise the economy.
However, although businesses in Rwanda are reported to have online access, which presents enormous opportunities for e-Commerce, customers in the country browse business websites to source for information but still make purchases the traditional way.
Official estimates indicate that e-Commerce transactions are still very low in Rwanda.
A mini official survey conducted in Rwanda, shows that 27 percent of the people who live in Kigali buy goods online.
As part of national efforts to mitigate these challenges, the Rwandan government has initiated digitalization campaign with the aim to make the country a regional e-hub.
Some of these initiatives initiatives that have been put in place include boosting the country’s ICT sector some of which include promoting a cashless economy (“singombwa Cash”) and promoting and facilitating online trade.
The project “Rwanda: Enabling the Future of e-Commerce”, supports local SMEs to acquire skills to sell and market their products online, raises awareness of Made in Rwanda products online, has established logistics centres (E-Commerce Service Centres).
This is seen as a solution for logistics actors and SMEs as well as negotiated fair payment solutions to ease the online payment process and make e-Commerce possible.
CU/as/APA