Francis Dufay, the CEO of Jumia Technologies, an e-commerce company with a focus on Africa, recently stated that the company will increase orders by up to 25% and continue cutting expenses this year as it battles for market share against Chinese rivals like Temu that are looking to enter the African market.
To generate a profit, Jumia has been drastically decreasing expenses. Some of these cost-cutting measures include lowering staffing levels, ending the delivery of meals and ordinary groceries, and discontinuing delivery services unrelated to its e-commerce operations.
Dufay claimed that Temu, which joined the Nigerian market in December, and other companies could enter the African e-commerce sector since it was sufficiently deep, BrandSpur business and economy news reports.
Last year, Jumia attracted six million users across nine countries, including Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, with a combined population of 600 million.
Continuing, the CEO had this to say: “They (Temu) are spending a lot of money so they can take a share, but the market is so big it will not hurt our potential to grow.
“There’s room for everyone to grow, even if they take some share of the market,” he added.
According to him, Jumia will reduce operating and logistical expenses while growing into new cities and underdeveloped rural areas. He said that the company’s goal for this year is to reduce its loss before taxes by up to a third, to between $65 and $70 million.
