E-Business
Jumia Sees Growth in First Quarter 2022 Results
Jumia Technologies AG (“Jumia” or the “Company”) announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022.
“We kicked off 2022 with very strong growth momentum, closing the first quarter with the highest GMV and Order growth rates of the past 9 quarters, up 27% and 40% year-over-year respectively.
“In parallel with accelerating usage growth, we continued driving platform monetization, with revenue growing by 44% year- over-year, which was also a 9-quarter high,” commented Jeremy Hodara and Sacha Poignonnec, Co-Chief Executive Officers of Jumia.
“We remain focused on taking the business forward on our path to profitability, driving faster usage growth with improved levels of marketing efficiency. Sales & Advertising expense per Order and as % of GMV decreased sequentially, both reaching their lowest levels in the past 4 quarters, at $2.0 per Order and 7.5% of GMV respectively. We are executing on our strategy with discipline and consistency. Our focus continues to be on making Jumia a compelling destination for the everyday needs of African consumers and a growth engine for sellers and businesses in Africa and beyond.”
First Quarter 2022- Business Highlights
- Growth Acceleration Initiatives
In the first quarter of 2022, we continued executing on our growth acceleration strategy building upon the momentum of the second half of 2021, continuing to scale the business towards profitability.
The key levers of our growth acceleration plan remain consistent:
Sustained marketing investments on a multi-channel basis, to drive consumer awareness, adoption and retention.
Enhanced assortment relevance with a focus on everyday product categories.
Improved pricing and shipping policy.
Improved customer experience and convenience through platform enhancements.
We have outlined below relevant developments in the first quarter of 2022 with respect to each one of these levers.
Marketing
- Brand awareness and consideration are core pillars of our marketing strategy and key to foster customer trust. We were pleased to see Jumia ranked #6 in the 2021 Most Influential Brands survey in Egypt released by Ipsos in March 2022. The ‘Most Influential Brands Survey’ is a global Ipsos initiative, covering 14 markets and close to 800 brands worldwide.
2021 was the second edition of the survey in Egypt with 118 brands assessed across 14 categories. In 2021, Jumia progressed from the 7th to the 6th position of the ranking, maintaining its leadership within the digital and e-commerce category of the survey.
Assortment, pricing and shipping
As part of our efforts to become the digital destination in Africa for everyday needs, we are expanding our assortment in the everyday categories and further enhancing our partnerships with sellers and brands.
Between December 31, 2021 and March 31, 2022, we added almost one million SKUs in the FMCG category, the highest number of SKU adds in this category in the past 8 quarters. We also established pan-African partnerships with each of Coca-Cola and Danone across both our e-commerce and food delivery platforms.
Price competitiveness is a key component of the Jumia value proposition for consumers, particularly in a more challenging macro environment that drives increased consumer price sensitivity. We are upgrading our price benchmarking tool into an automated system covering the full product assortment of Jumia, incorporating data from both online and offline channel checks.
The new system leverages machine learning algorithms to match images and product features enhancing the speed and accuracy of screening and matching. It also allows for real-time price adjustment with dedicated modules for margin optimization.
We are rolling out a free shipping program in select countries allowing consumers living in the main cities to benefit from next-day free shipping on Jumia Express items and basket sizes exceeding a minimum threshold. Jumia Express is an end-to-end logistics service provided to sellers where items are stored in our warehouse and picked and packed by Jumia.
We expect the free shipping initiative to drive consumer adoption and overall usage growth. While we will be foregoing consumer shipping fees – booked under Fulfillment revenue – we expect to better monetize the Jumia Express service – booked under Value Added Service revenue – as we expect sellers to benefit from sales uplift as a result of the free shipping roll-out.
Technology: Platform enhancements
We continue to invest in our technology backbone and front-end projects in particular, to make our platforms even more easy-to-use and engaging.
During the first quarter of 2022, we continued working on an overhaul of our homepage and product pages to simplify navigation and product discovery. Key developments included creating stronger hierarchy of content on the homepage and more informative product pages with larger pictures and additional information such as available stock quantity for flash sales and promotions.
We intend to further enhance user experience with incremental improvements to our product search algorithms and filtering modules, while increasing personalization throughout the stages of the user journey.
- JUMIA PAY UPDATE
In April 2022, JumiaPay was granted the Payment Service Solution Provider (“PSSP”) license by the Central Bank of Nigeria, which allows us to process payments on behalf of third-party businesses in Nigeria.
In parallel, we continued expanding the range of everyday digital and financial services available to consumers on the JumiaPay app.
In Nigeria, JumiaPay is working with the CGAP, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, which is a global partnership of more than 30 leading development organizations, focused on financial inclusion to improve the lives of lower income populations.
As part of this partnership, we are piloting an e-doctor service on the JumiaPay app in collaboration with a third-party service provider, “Meeting Doctors”. The objective of this service is to help workers, sellers and consumers in general access doctors remotely for a monthly subscription fee of around $1. The experiment will help validate the value delivered to our customers and workers and identify a sustainable model to achieve this.
- MONETIZATION UPDATE
Logistics services to third parties
- We are making significant progress on the roll-out of our logistics services to third parties. Packages shipped during the first quarter of 2022 reached a new record of 3.5 million, on behalf of over 1,250 clients, an increase of more than 200 clients compared to the fourth quarter of 2021.
Advertising
Our advertising activity experienced strong momentum during the first quarter of 2022, with 484 advertising campaigns, up 55% year-over-year, on behalf of almost 9,000 advertising clients, a 24% year-over-year increase. Advertising clients during the quarter included high profile brand partners such as Unilever, L’Oréal, Adidas, Danone, Xiaomi, Coca-Cola, Krispy Kreme, Burger King and many more.
We are constantly improving the efficiency of our campaigns to enhance the returns on investment for our advertising clients, through better audience targeting, enhanced personalization and campaign management tools. As a result, advertising campaign performance, measured by the click-through rate on our ads, increased by 56% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2022, supporting sales and return on ad spend for our advertisers.
- IMPACT
Earlier in May 2022, we launched our inaugural ESG report highlighting our sustainability strategy and key themes in alignment with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (“SASB”) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (“UN SDGs”). The first edition of this report has been designed as an overview of our sustainability strategy with a mapping of our current sustainability practices.
Our sustainability strategy is fully aligned with our corporate mission and has three main objectives:
– Living our mission: Our mission to “leverage technology to improve everyday lives” holds sustainability at its core. As we execute on this mission, we create jobs, reduce inequality and positively impact our communities.
– Embedding sustainability in our business operations: We aim to make business decisions and conduct our operations with sustainability guidelines and objectives in mind.
– Amplifying our impact through our ecosystem: Our impact is further amplified as we expand our sustainability practices to our ecosystem of partners and stakeholders.
Our sustainability practices today can be grouped under five material themes outlined below. These themes have been developed in line with our understanding of how our business impacts our key stakeholder groups: consumers, partners, employees, investors and our communities.
Environment
- Minimizing environmental impact through the reduction of carbon emissions, waste and offering customers pre-owned and refurbished goods.
Social
Providing convenience, accessibility and affordability to consumers.
Empowering sellers, partners, and communities by lowering the barriers to entry, providing training, access to funding and participating in initiatives to drive economic and social development.
Building an engaged, inclusive, and diverse workforce.
Governance
- Operating with strong governance and ethical standards.
African startups raised more than $345 million across 65 deals in May, more than double the amount raised in the same period of last year, according to a report by Briter, a research and business intelligence firm.
The report disclosed that both the number of deals and participating companies declined, confirming a growing trend of fewer companies raising funds in larger sizes.
It said fintech attracted the highest share of funding in May, accounting for 34 percent of the total, while cleantech followed closely, driven by a debt deal from Sun King. The company raised $80 million (in local currency) to expand clean energy access in Nigeria.
“Equity remains the primary instrument in terms of total value. There’s no doubt about it; in fact, equity deals with disclosed amounts captured more than half of the total funding volume in May.
“However, debt financing is increasingly proving its weight. Although it accounted for only 8 percent of all deals, it represented 32 percent of the total funding, highlighting the typically larger size of debt transactions. With the rise of specialised vehicles targeting early-stage businesses, debt is becoming an increasingly important part of Africa’s innovation funding landscape,” it said.
Briter’s report added that grants continued to play a vital role in early-stage support, especially in the education technology (EdTech) sector. The Mastercard Foundation led the pack in grant activity, funding a new cohort of EdTech innovators in Nigeria and Kenya. Each selected startup is set to receive $100,000 in grant funding, in addition to mentorship and business development support.
Multilaterals also made a strong showing in May, it said. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a World Bank Group member, issued a $179.6 million guarantee to CleanTech firm KOKO Networks. The support will help scale its clean energy solutions across Kenya.
“This deal not only demonstrates growing international confidence in African climate ventures but also signals a promising pathway for other asset-intensive startups in clean cooking, agriculture, and renewable energy,” the report said.
From a geographic perspective, Egypt emerged as the continent’s fundraising powerhouse for the month, contributing 51 percent of all funding raised. The country recorded 12 deals across equity, debt, and bond instruments. Notably, FinTech platform MNT-Halan raised $50 million through a bond issuance, further illustrating the diversification of capital-raising mechanisms in the region.
Outside Egypt, funding was distributed across Africa’s three other key markets, which are Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya, with limited activity recorded in countries such as Ghana, Tunisia, Morocco, and Uganda, each registering between one and three deals.
In terms of exits, the African tech landscape continues to mature. Three companies—Baobab+, Qardy, and Shopa—were acquired in May, bringing the total number of exits this year to 22. This already surpasses last year’s count for the same period. Qardy was acquired by Catalyst Partners Middle East (CPME) in a disclosed deal valued at $23 million, the report added.
By Nancy Werteen
When you get anti-hacking advice, you’ve probably heard “Don’t use a simple password,” or “Don’t plug in that USB you found on the ground.”
But there’s one form of hacking that doesn’t always require a computer, and it costs businesses about 4.88 million dollars a year.
Modern hackers aren’t trying to get into your computer; they’re trying to get into you.
“They’ll try to learn about you a little bit, and they’ll try to use that information against you to try to get you to complete some action, maybe to send somebody some money,” said Kevin Moran, PhD, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Cyber Security and Privacy Cluster, University of Central Florida.
IBM calls this human hacking, because it exploits human error instead of system error.
“With people just being busy and maybe not very carefully checking some of the emails or the phone calls that they get, can be something unfortunately that people can fall victim to,” said Moran.
Also known as social engineering, this often takes the form of phishing, where the hacker tries to “fish” the information out of you by impersonating family, friends, or even your bank.
There’s also baiting, where the hacker baits you with something of value. Remember the Nigerian prince scam?
That’s a famous example of baiting. There’s also pretexting, where the hacker will claim the victim has already been hacked, and that the hacker can fix it if you just send over your passwords. So, what can you do?
“Just as a rule of thumb, instead of clicking on links and emails, just go to the website yourself. And that will prevent, a lot of these types of attacks from happening,” explained Moran.
Phishing can take many forms.
Spear phishing targets people with access to confidential information, often to get access into an entire business, and whale phishing targets CEOs or political figures.
Search engine phishing is when hackers create fake websites promising services or goods you’ll never receive.
Angler phishing is when hackers create fake social media accounts impersonating famous people or companies.
Finally, vishing and smishing is phishing done through phone calls and texts respectively.
Federal government has said that it has successfully captured 59,786 inmates, representing approximately 74 percent of the total prison population into the National Identity Number (NIN) database.
This figure is based on a total of 80,879 inmates across 256 custodial centres across the country.
Abubakar Umar, spokesman, Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Deputy Controller of Corrections, who made this disclosure in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja, dismissed recent media reports alleging that the NIN registration had yet to begin in custodial centres.
Umar described such report as misleading, inaccurate, and not representative of the current situation.
According to Umar, the NIN registration exercise within the correctional facilities was ongoing and has achieved substantial progress.
He credited the achievement to collaboration between the NCoS and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), which has enabled successful enrollment of majority of inmates into the national identity database.
According to him, “As of June 7, 2025, a total of 59,786 inmates, roughly 74 percent cent of the total inmate population have been captured on the NIMC platform,” Umar said.
“Efforts are ongoing to register the remaining inmates, and necessary mechanisms have been established to ensure the seamless completion of the process.”
He emphasised that the assertion that NIN registration has not started in custodial centres was factually incorrect and overlooks the extensive work already carried out.
The Service reaffirmed its commitment to integrating all inmates into national data systems, including NIN registration, as part of broader efforts to support rehabilitation, reintegration, and digital inclusion for individuals in custody.
Umar also urged media outlets to confirm their information with appropriate authorities before publication to prevent the spread of misinformation that could undermine the Service’s progress and public understanding.
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