Connect with us

E-Business

Jumia Reports Strong Second Quarter 2019 Results

Published

on

L-R: Dele Awolala; HR Director, Jumia Nigeria, Juliet Anammah, CEO Jumia Nigeria and Seyi Oni, Head of Legal Dept, Jumia Nigeria at a press conference held on Thurssday, in Lagos.
Kindly share this post

Jumia Technologies has announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2019.

 

Jeremy Hodara, co-CEOs of Jumia, in a statement released on Thursday said, “We continue to deliver on our financial strategy of generating strong growth of our topline drivers, while accelerating monetization, driving cost efficiencies and developing JumiaPay.

 

“During the second quarter of 2019, our GMV increased by 69% year-on-year and our Gross profit grew by 94%.

 

“Our Adjusted EBITDA loss as a percentage of GMV decreased by 562 basis points (5.62 percentage points) and our Operating loss, amounting to €66.7 million, decreased as a percentage of GMV by 148 basis points (1.48 percentage points)

 

“These results reflect our continued focus on offering a relevant and engaging online shopping and lifestyle destination for consumers, while providing our sellers with an attractive value proposition and a platform to grow their businesses.

 

“We remain focused on all aspects of our growth strategy, particularly JumiaPay, as we continue to drive its usage in our markets.”

 

Juliet Anammah, CEO, Jumia Nigeria, giving an insight on the business and financial records of the company, said that GMV increased this quarter by 69% compared to the second quarter of 2018, due to a variety of factors, including strong marketplace growth and robust consumer acquisition and re-engagement momentum.

 

She added that the number of Active Consumers at June 30, 2019 was 4.8 million, up from 3.2 million a year ago and 4.3 million at the end of the first quarter of 2019.

 

According to her, “These increases are a result of our continued focus on selection, price and convenience, as we strive to be the preferred online shopping destination for consumers in Africa for all their daily needs.

 

“During the second quarter of 2019, we continued to increase the assortment available on our platform and to engage with consumers through relevant local commercial campaigns such as our “Mobile Week” and “Ramadan” campaigns”

 

The company further stated that they are committed to development and scaling JumiaPay to other regions in Africa.

 

“JumiaPay remained a key focus area and it is now offered in six countries – Nigeria, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Morocco and Kenya.

 

“Collectively, these six countries represented a combined population of almost 440 million people in 2018, according to data from the United Nations Population Division.

 

“We have also expanded the scope of JumiaPay beyond our physical goods marketplace.

 

“As of December 31, 2018, JumiaPay was only available within our physical goods marketplace.

 

“It is now also available within our on-demand services, Jumia Food, and hotel booking portals, Jumia Travel, in selected countries.

 

“Lastly, we continued to expand the range of financial and digital services available from third parties, powered by JumiaPay, offering our consumers an increasing range of relevant every day services.

 

“In Nigeria for instance, consumers can now access micro-loans offered by a local fintech startup, alongside event tickets offered by a local event ticketing provider.

 

“In Egypt, in the second quarter of 2019, we started distributing services from a local deals provider allowing consumers to purchase their vouchers on the Jumia platform, using JumiaPay”.

 

The company further revealed that their marketplace revenue increased by 89.7% in the second quarter of 2019 compared to the second quarter of 2018, on the back of strong revenue growth across all components of Marketplace revenue.

 

“Commissions, which are charged to our sellers, grew by 91.8%.Fulfillment, which are delivery fees charged to consumers, grew by 102.6%.

 

“Marketing & Advertising, which include performance marketing campaigns, or the placement of banners on our platform, grew by 489.5%.

 

“This strong growth was driven by an acceleration in brand marketing contributions, aimed at promoting the visibility of their products on our platform.

 

“Value Added Services, which include revenue from services charged to our sellers such as logistics services, packaging, or content creation, grew by 47.4%.

 

“First Party revenue increased by 39.2% in the second quarter of 2019 compared to the second quarter of 2018.

 

“We undertake our first party activity in an opportunistic manner to complement the breadth of product assortment on our platform, usually in areas where we see unmet consumer demand.

 

“Shifts in the mix between first party and marketplace activities trigger substantial variations in our Revenue as we record the full sales price net of returns as First Party revenue and only commissions and fees in the case of Marketplace revenue.

 

“Accordingly, we steer our operations not on the basis of our total Revenue, but rather on the basis of Gross profit, as changes between third-party and first-party sales mix are largely eliminated at the Gross profit level.

 

“Over time, it is our goal to reduce the proportion of first party activity in favor of third-party activity at group level. This strategy may however vary from quarter to quarter and from country to country”.


Kindly share this post

Ugo Onwuaso is an ICT enthusiast. He believes technology should be used for general good. He holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Lagos state University. Dear Reader, Your support matters. But we believe that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. That is why, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and finance and how they affect lives. Our incisive and analytical view of how technology news affects the daily life help individuals and organizations make up their minds. Quality journalism costs money. Today, we're asking that you support us to do more. Kindly support our effort to deliver technology and finance journalism to everyone in the world. Donate as little as N1,000. Bank transfers can be made to: UBA Plc 1017156876 Communication Week Media Ltd

E-Business

Kaspersky Warns of a New Phishing Technique Leveraging Bubble, a no-code AI Platform

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Kaspersky has discovered a new phishing tactic used to evade traditional security controls that exploits Bubble, a platform that allows users to build web and mobile applications through a visual interface without writing code.

Attackers are increasingly adopting innovative tools designed for legitimate software development and repurposing them to boost phishing campaigns.

Traditional phishing attacks often rely on malicious links or obvious redirection techniques, which are typically flagged and blocked by modern security systems.

However, attackers are now leveraging Bubble’s no-code environment to generate intermediary web applications which are hosted on Bubble’s legitimate infrastructure and trusted domains such as *.bubble.io, which improves their credibility and helps them bypass security filters.

These applications function as disguised redirectors, silently forwarding victims to malicious credential-harvesting websites.

In the observed campaign, victims were ultimately redirected to a convincing imitation of a Microsoft login page, protected by a Cloudflare verification layer designed to further obscure malicious intent.

This technique is likely being integrated into broader phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) platforms and phishing kits. These kits enable a wide range of malicious capabilities with ready-made tools, including real-time interception of session cookies, driving phishing campaigns through legitimate services such as Google Tasks and Google Forms, and carry out adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) attacks that can bypass multi-factor authentication.

They also support the generation of phishing emails using AI, implement geo-filtering and anti-detection mechanisms to evade security crawlers and are often hosted on reputable cloud services like AWS to avoid blacklisting.

“The use of legitimate platforms like Bubble introduces a new level of trust abuse, making it harder for both users and automated systems to distinguish between safe and malicious content. This significantly increases the likelihood of credential theft, unauthorised access and potential data breaches,” comments Roman Dedenok, Anti-Spam Expert at Kaspersky.

 

 


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

E-Business

NITDA Takes Over National Digital Architecture System

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Nigeria has taken a major step toward strengthening its digital governance framework as the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) officially assumes control of the Nigeria Government Enterprise Architecture (NGEA) infrastructure.

NITDA Takes Over National Digital Architecture System

The handover ceremony held in Abuja, marks the culmination of a high-level partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

This transition signals a shift from fragmented IT projects to a unified, disciplined approach to national digital investment.

The NGEA initiative forms a core part of the e-Government Masterplan 2.0 (Ne-GMP 2.0), aimed at establishing a unified and structured approach to managing government IT investments and digital resources.

The framework is designed to ensure that technology deployment across public institutions aligns with national priorities while improving efficiency and accountability.

With the system now operational, government agencies are expected to adopt more integrated digital processes, allowing seamless data sharing and interoperability.

This is anticipated to reduce duplication, strengthen risk management, and translate policy objectives into measurable digital outcomes.

Over the past two and a half years, Nigerian technical experts worked closely with their Korean counterparts to develop the architecture framework, create reference models, and execute pilot programmes in key institutions.

These include the National Identity Management Commission, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, and NITDA.

Officials say the NGEA represents a shift from fragmented digital efforts to a more coordinated, citizen-focused system.

The infrastructure is hosted by Galaxy Backbone Limited, providing a secure and reliable platform for nationwide deployment.

Looking ahead, NITDA is expected to work with government stakeholders to expand and sustain the system, while the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy will provide policy guidance to ensure its adoption across the country.

 

 


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

E-Business

FG Shifting Focus to “Meaningful Connectivity” to Drive Inclusion  – Minister

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, has said the government is shifting focus from expanding access to ensuring “meaningful connectivity” that drives economic growth and inclusion.

FG Shifting Focus to “Meaningful Connectivity” to Drive Inclusion  - Minister

Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy

The minister made the statement on Friday while addressing stakeholders at the inauguration of board members of the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) in Abuja.

He said that although Nigeria had made significant progress since the introduction of GSM services, millions of people, particularly in rural and underserved communities, remain either unconnected or unable to fully benefit from digital services.

Dr Tijani highlighted ongoing investments in digital infrastructure, including plans to deploy 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic network and nearly 4,000 telecom towers nationwide.

He said initiatives under the USPF had improved access through projects such as rural connectivity and digital facilities in schools but stressed that the next phase must prioritise effective usage.

“It is not enough to connect a community. We must ensure that schools can teach with digital tools and that small businesses can access market opportunities,” he said, citing a pilot project in the Kura community where connectivity has enhanced access to communication, education and healthcare.

Aminu Maida, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) also called for a shift towards meaningful connectivity, noting that while data usage had grown significantly, it remained concentrated in urban areas.

According to him, recent data shows that telecom usage has increased by about 160% over the past two years, largely driven by urban demand.

“When we drill down, we see that a lot of that growth is actually in urban centres. So, the gap between those who are not connected or not meaningfully connected is growing,” he said.

Dr Maida added that the trend underscored the need for the USPF board to intensify efforts to bridge both access and usage gaps across the country.

Both officials emphasised the importance of collaboration, sustainable investment models and improved digital literacy to ensure that connectivity translates into real economic benefits for Nigerians.

 

 


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

Trending