Pan-African e-commerce business Jumia is adjusting its digital retail network to suppress the spread of COVID-19
The Nigeria headquartered operation– with online products and services verticals in 11 African nations– announced a series of procedures on Friday. Jumia will donate licensed face masks to health ministries in Kenya, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Nigeria and Uganda, making use of its supply networks outside Africa.
The business has actually provided African federal governments usage of its last mile delivery network for distribution of products to health care facilities and workers. Jumia will also decrease fees on its JumiaPay financing item to motivate digital payments over money, which can be an avenue for the spread of coronavirus.
Governments in Jumia’s operating nations have begun to engage the economic sector on a possible COVID-19 outbreak on the continent, according to Jumia CEO Sacha Poignonnec
” I don’t have a crystal ball and nobody understands what’s gon na take place,” he told TechCrunch on a call. However in case the infection spreads rapidly on the continent, Jumia is reviewing extra assets it can offer the general public sector. “If governments find it helpful we want to do it,” Poignonnec stated.
Africa’s COVID-19 cases by country were in the single digits up until recently, but those numbers surged last week leading the World Health Organization to sound an alarm. “About 10 days ago we had actually 5 nations affected, now we have actually got 30,” WHO Regional Director Dr Matshidiso Moeti said at an interview Thursday. “It’s has actually been an extremely quick … advancement.”
By the World Health Organization’s newest statistics Monday there were 1321 COVID-19 cases in Africa and 34 confirmed deaths related to the virus– up from 463 cases and 10 deaths last Wednesday.
Dr. Moeti noted that lots of socioeconomic factors in Africa– from housing to access to running water– make common denominators to suppress COVID-19, such as social-distancing or regular hand washing, challenging. She went on to explain that the World Health Organization is trying to find solutions that are adoptable to Africa’s scenarios, consisting of working with partners and federal governments to get sterilizing products to health centers and families.
As coronavirus cases and associated deaths grow, governments in Africa are responding. South Africa, which has the second highest COVID-19 numbers on the continent, stated a nationwide catastrophe recently, banned public events and announced travel restrictions on the U.S.
Kenya has enforced its own travel and crowd restrictions and the nation’s President Uhuru Kenyatta advised citizens and companies to go with digital-payments as a safer ways for deals.
Across Africa’s tech ecosystem– which has actually seen significant development in start-ups and now receives $2 billion in VC yearly– a number of stars are stepping up.
Image Credit: Jumia
In addition to offering its logistics and supply-chain network, Jumia is working together with health ministries in a number of nations to use its website and mobile platforms to share COVID-19 associated public service messages.
Hearkening President Kenyatta’s call, recently Kenya’s biggest telecom Safaricom waived fees on its M-Pesa mobile-money product (with over 20 million users) to increase digital payments use and decrease the risk of spreading out the COVID-19 through handling of cash.
Africa’s largest development incubator CcHub announced funding and a require tech jobs focused on reducing COVID-19 and its social and economic impact.
A looming question for Africa’s tech scene is how start-ups in major markets such as Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa will weather significant drops in revenue that might occur from a larger coronavirus break out.
Jumia is well capitalized, after going public in a 2019 IPO on the New York stock exchange, but still has losses surpassing its 2019 earnings of EUR160 million
On handling organisation through a possible COVID-19 Africa slump, “We’re extremely long-lasting oriented so it has to do with doing what’s right with the governments and thinking of how we can help,” said Jumia’s CEO Sacha Poignonnec.
” Earnings wise, it’s actually to early to tell. We do think that e-commerce in Africa is a trend that surpasses this specific situation.”
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