Jumia Exits Cameroon Market, Fires All Staff Without Notice

Online market company Jumia has left Cameroonian market over what it termed as unsustainable business environment.

Jumia is said to have offloaded all its Cameroon workforce without making any public announcement, as is the norm in most organisations.

The company is also yet to address the press or issue public statement as it seeks to downplay the reports and keep the public and the authorities in darkness.

Read: Jumia Sued For Hiding Critical Information While Listing At The New York Stock Market

According to a Jumia staffer based in Yaounde as quoted by international media, the closure “came as a bombshell and all operations just stopped abruptly.”

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.

Read: Jumia Exposed As A Fraudulent, Worthless Company By Citron Research

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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