This archive report was first published on 19 November 2019.
November 19, 2019
Online retailer Jumia Technologies has suspended its e-commerce platform activities in Cameroon, citing that they are not suitable for the African state.
Founded in 2012 by two French former McKinsey consultants, Jumia has grown quickly to become the continent's leading e-commerce firm, operating in more than a dozen countries.
According to a statement by Jumia, the company has chosen to prioritize growth over profitability in Cameroon, which has not paid off.
“We came to the conclusion that our transactional portal as it is run today is not suitable to the current context in Cameroon,” Jumia said in a statement announcing that its e-commerce operations there had been suspended.
Despite the suspension, Jumia will continue to support buyers and vendors in Cameroon using its classified portal Jumia Deals.
Cameroon's economy is one of the largest in central Africa, but growth has been hit by a two-year separatist uprising in its Anglophone North-west and South-west regions.
The International Monetary Fund said in November that economic growth in oil-producing Cameroon was likely to slow to 3.9% this year from 4.1% in 2018 due to a subdued performance by the country's non-energy sector.
U.S. President Donald Trump said last month he would end Cameroon's preferential trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) from January because the government had not dealt with abuses by the security forces.
Cameroon's government and military have rejected the allegations and have said that Anglophone separatists are responsible for human rights violations.
