UPS, an American multinational shipping and supply chain management company, has partnered with Jumia Technologies, a pan-African e-commerce platform led by French businessman Jeremy Hodara, to expand delivery services for businesses and consumers across the continent.
According to the terms of the strategic partnership agreement, UPS will leverage Jumia’s robust last-mile logistics capabilities and infrastructure to expand its delivery services in Africa, as it will offer customers an expanded range of delivery solutions, including gate package delivery and collection, with a variety of payment options.
As a result, UPS customers will be able to pick up or drop off packages for international shipping at Jumia locations in Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria. Plans are in the works to expand the partnership to Ghana and Ivory Coast, followed by the rest of Africa’s markets (Algeria, Senegal, Tunisia, Uganda and South Africa).
According to Gregory Goba Ble, UPS vice president of engineering and operations for the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and Africa, the partnership will benefit small and medium-sized businesses in Africa, which account for 90 percent of all businesses on the continent and are the backbone of the economy.
He went on to say that UPS’s asset-light strategy will enable businesses to quickly and reliably connect to new customers all over the world via our global network, potentially accelerating their revenue growth.
According to Apoorva Kumar, Jumia’s senior vice president of logistics, the e-commerce company is delighted and humbled by the opportunity to collaborate with UPS, a global logistics leader, to offer them last mile solutions in Africa.
He went on to say that the partnership validates the strength of Jumia’s logistics platform and provides an incentive for the company to double down on its efforts to improve its services and build a world-class logistics business in Africa.
Jumia shares on the New York Stock Exchange were valued at $11 per share as of press time on April 6, giving the pan-African e-commerce company a $985.9-million valuation.
Shares in the company have fallen by 8.1 percent since the start of the year, from $11.97 per share at the start of business this year to $11 per share at the time of writing this report.
