Jumia, a leading online retailer has extended its offer of giving a 50 per cent discount on commissions to local manufacturers, as it seeks to cement its dominance on Kenya’s e-commerce platform.
The company first announced the offer for companies selling locally produced products on the Jumia platform in September last year.
“We are committed to ‘Buy Kenya, Build Kenya’ – and as such want to do our bit to support local manufacturers,” said Chief Commercial Officer, Kenneth Oyolla.
Oyolla, who spoke during the quarterly vendor meeting, held at Jumia’s CBD hub said the Jumia local program will help the companies compete with imported goods.
“It is through such initiatives that we can grow small and medium industries to be substantial players in the e-commerce industry,” said Oyolla.
The company hopes to grow its current vendor base by 30 per cent in 2020 digitization of the economy and job creation by investing significantly in providing scalable training to small and medium size businesses (SMEs).
SMEs are critical to Kenya’s employment sector, employing 80 per cent of the working population. The sector contributed up to 34 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016.
Local entrepreneurs and manufacturers who use the Jumia platform will tap into company’s growing customer base, estimated to be 25 per cent of the active internet population in a normal month.
Jumia Kenya runs online brands including Jumia Deals, Jumia Jobs, Jumia food, Jumia Travel, and Jumia House, with over 15,000 Kenyan companies currently selling through the Jumia platform. The company operates in 22 other African countries.