Jumia has exited the Tanzanian market, days after it closed shop in Cameroon over reducing fortunes that have negatively affected its profitability.
In a statement, the company said that it is focusing its resources on other markets (that are profitable).
“While Tanzania has strong potential and we’re proud of the growth we’ve collectively seen stemming from Jumia’s adoption, we have to focus our resources on our other markets. It is important now than ever to put our focus and resources where they can bring the best value and help us thrive,” the company wrote.
The company, which accumulated a loss of Ksh6 billion in the third quarter of the financial year ending June, said that its classifieds listing business, Jumia Deals, will continue to function in Tanzania.
Read: Jumia Exits Cameroon Market, Fires All Staff Without Notice
A week ago, the company exited Cameroonian market and fired all its staffers over what it termed as unsustainable business environment.
Jumia, said based on its review, the company came to the conclusion its transactional portal as it is run currently is not suitable to the current operating environment in Cameroon.
“For this reason, we made the difficult decision to suspend our e-commerce operations in Cameroon. It is more important now than ever to put our focus and resources where they can bring the best value and help us thrive. While our operations in Cameroon provided many opportunities for customers and vendors, this decision will help us achieve greater success in the future,” Abdesslam Benzitouni, group head of communication told Quartz Africa by e-mail.
Jumia, which became the first African-based company to list in the US has been struggling to survive in the African market, where there is less developed infrastructure to facilitate trade.
In the third quarter, Jumia posted widening losses of $60 million(Ksh6 billion). Since opening for business in 2012 it has racked up over $1 billion (Ksh100 billion) in losses.
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