Pan-African e-commerce retail platform Jumia Technologies will close its South African online fashion retailer Zando and its Tunisian operations by the end of the year to sharpen its focus on its other markets, Reuters reported.
The report stated that Jumia is aggressively cutting costs to try to turn profitable, including by reducing head count, exiting everyday grocery items and food delivery and cutting delivery services not related to its e-commerce business.
“The trajectory of the countries did not align with the strategy of the group,” Jumia CEO Francis Dufay was quoted as saying, citing complex macroeconomics, the competitive environment and low medium-term potential for growth and profitability.
“We believe it’s the right decision. It enables us to refocus our resources on the other nine markets, where we see more promising trends in terms of scale and profitability,” he added.
