Leading pan-African e-commerce platform Jumia has joined forces with the world's premier package delivery company UPS to help expand its delivery services for businesses and consumers across the continent.

 

Leveraging the Jumia infrastructure in Africa, UPS will offer its customers an extended range of delivery solutions, including door to door package delivery and collection, with a variety of payment options. 

 

This partnership will also allow UPS to leverage the extensive network of Jumia drop-off and pick-up stations to expand the UPS reach and coverage across more towns and cities in Africa, said the statement from Jumia. 

 

The collaboration will initially cover Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, with plans for expansion to Ghana and Ivory Coast, and thereafter to the remaining African countries where Jumia operates, it added.

 

"At the beginning of our journey, 10 years ago, logistics infrastructure was one of the most challenging aspects of our operating environment. This challenge was a catalyst for us to build an unparalleled logistics platform in Africa offering our sellers and consumers reliable, convenient and cost-effective delivery services," remarked Apoorva Kumar, Senior Vice President Logistics, Jumia.

 

"Today, we are helping other businesses overcome these infrastructure challenges by giving them access to our logistics platform. We are delighted and humbled by the opportunity to partner up with UPS, a global logistics leader, to offer them last mile solutions in Africa," explained Kumar. 

 

"We view this as a validation of the strength of our logistics platform as well as an incentive to double down on our efforts to further enhance our services and build a world-class logistics business in Africa," he added. 

 

Gregory Goba Ble, VP (Engineering and Operations) for Indian subcontinent, Middle East and Africa, at UPS, said: "This partnership will help small and medium-sized businesses in Africa that make up 90 percent of all businesses on the continent and are the backbone of the economy."

 

"UPS’s asset-light approach, like the Jumia partnership, offers a pathway for businesses to quickly and reliably connect to new customers around the world through our global network, potentially accelerating their revenue growth," he added.