"Jumia doubles down on Nigeria in a push to turn profitable"

" Jumia doubles down on Nigeria in a push to turn profitable \r\n\r\nE-retailer Jumia Technologies AG plans to focus on Nigeria, Africa\u2019s most-populous nation, as part of a bid to turn profitable.\r\n\r\nThe Nasdaq-listed e-commerce firm will consolidate its three warehouses in Nigeria to one 30,000 square-meter depot in Lagos in an effort to cut costs, Chief Executive Officer Francis Dufay said in an interview. The company will also add more cities it services in the West African nation, he said.\r\n\r\nJumia, which has yet to report an annual profit, expects Nigeria \u2014 home to 200 million people \u2014 to give it scale and help break even. It\u2019s a gamble because lack of dollars and rising cost of living have forced multinational companies including Procter & Gamble Co., GSK Plc and Bayer AG to exit.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe want to be sized and organized for significant growth,\u201d Dufay said. \u201cJumia sees the macro situation in Nigeria as temporary, and expects it to turn positive in the medium term.\u201d\r\n\r\nJumia reported an operating loss of $8.33 million in the first quarter of the year, while revenue rose 5.7% to $48.9 million. The company\u2019s shares have plunged about 90% from a record reached in the middle of the pandemic, when people were relying on e-commerce services.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe need to build scale,\u201d Dufay said in a separate interview at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha with Joumanna Bercetche. \u201cWe know that customers are heavily price-conscious, so we need a very lean structure on our end, so we can deliver very low prices on everything, including delivery and all services.\u201d\r\n\r\nIn Nigeria, Jumia\u2019s biggest market, the central bank has devalued the naira twice in a year. Most Nigerians struggle with electricity supply and congestion at Nigeria\u2019s ports have compounded its economic woes.\r\n\r\nJumia is betting on economic revival in the West African nation as President Bola Tinubu and the central bank try to introduce policies to slow inflation and lure investors.\r\n\r\nFor now, Jumia is preserving its cash reserves. It has also introduced buy-now-pay-later financing option to woo customers struggling with rising prices.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe are also very reactive in pricing as Nigeria remains a huge market for consumer demand, and our business is not stopping,\u201d Dufay said.\r\n\r\nThe government of the State of Qatar is the underwriter of the Qatar Economic Forum, powered by Bloomberg."

"Jumia doubles down on Nigeria in a push to turn profitable"

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