NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

By Annie Njanja

Global logistics and package delivery company UPS will leverage Jumia’s network across Africa to grow its reach in the continent, following a new partnership announced today that gives it access to the e-commerce firm’s last-mile delivery infrastructure.

This means that UPS customers can pick-up or drop-off packages for sending across the world at Jumia’s stations in Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria. Plans are underway to expand the partnership to Ghana and Ivory Coast, and the rest of its markets in Africa (Algeria, Senegal, Tunisia, Uganda and South Africa) thereafter.

Jumia began building its logistics business seven years ago, owing to how fragmented the logistics sector was and as a pathway to grow the number of orders made on its e-commerce marketplace beyond cities — by enabling customers in remote areas to make orders. In 2020, Jumia opened its logistics marketplace to third parties after exclusively reserving it for e-commerce and food vendors operating on its marketplace.

Photo courtesy of UPS van.