He gave the commendation in a congratulatory message to the leading e-commerce platform on the occasion of its 9th anniversary which is slated to be celebrated throughout the month of June 2021.
“The operations of Jumia, as far as I am concerned, have been highly commendable. I know Jumia was launched in Nigeria in 2012 and has expanded to other Africa countries. There is no doubt that e-commerce is supporting many businesses in Nigeria, majority of whom are micro, small and medium enterprises and are not income earners.
Jumia Nigeria chief executive officer, Massimiliano Spalazzi, said: “It has simply been an amazing journey. If I went back to how we started and where we are, being the number one e-commerce company in Africa and in Nigeria, it makes us very humble. We believe that e-commerce has played an even more important role in people’s life and to celebrate the achievement and to better serve our consumers and sellers, that is why the slogan for our 9th anniversary is ‘Celebrating You’.
In its nine years in Nigeria, Jumia has created thousands of direct and indirect employment opportunities, connected over 11,000 SMEs and brands to millions of consumers in Nigeria, boosted hundreds of independent logistics companies by incorporating them into the Jumia logistics network, and empowered many women-owned businesses through various empowerment initiatives.
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jumia also provided support to the Nigerian government, its employees and host communities. Some concrete examples of actions done are: donation of 100,000 CE mask to the Nigerian ministry of health to protect the communities; partnership with MasterCard to encourage cashless transactions; partnerships with Coca-Cola, Nike, Reckitt Benckiser, Carrefour, Procter & Gamble to increase availability of sanitary and hygiene products.