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.
E-Business
esentry 2025 Report Shows Healthcare, Financial Services and Telecoms as Staging Grounds for Increased Cyberattacks in Africa
Cyber adversaries targeting African organisations are increasingly shifting away from opportunistic attacks toward deliberate, sector-specific campaigns aimed at the continent’s most critical digital infrastructures, according to the esentry 2025 Annual Report released by esentry, Lagos-based Africa’s leading indigenous Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP).
The report identifies healthcare, financial services, and telecommunications as the primary staging grounds for high-velocity cyberattacks, reflecting a growing focus on sectors that underpin economic stability, public welfare, and digital connectivity across Africa.
The findings are drawn from one of the largest cybersecurity datasets analysed in the region. Over the course of 2025, esentry processed more than 31 billion security events, generating 3.5 million alerts and successfully blocking over 15,000 malicious attempts. This monitoring scale shows that, while traditional financial institutions remain a core target, the threat landscape has expanded to include digital lending platforms, healthcare systems that store sensitive personal data, and telecom operators responsible for national and regional connectivity.
Within the healthcare sector, the report highlights ransomware as the most acute risk, with attackers frequently exploiting exposed Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) services to compromise patient data and disrupt essential medical operations. In financial services, organisations are facing a surge in credential abuse, insider-related threats, and info-stealer malware designed to enable fraud and unauthorised access. Telecommunications providers are increasingly targeted by highly tailored phishing campaigns and attacks on exposed web services, which aim to harvest credentials and compromise customer data.
Commenting on the findings, Gbolabo Awelewa, Chief Business Officer at esentry, said the nature of cyber threats across Africa has evolved significantly. “The threats we are seeing today are deliberate, informed, and carefully tailored to local enterprises. Attackers are exploiting trusted access and moving quietly within networks, which makes early detection critical. Our coordinated cybersecurity model, spanning Defence, Intelligence, Offence, and Security Engineering, allows us to combine scale, speed, and deep contextual insight to detect and neutralise threats before they escalate,” Awelewa said.
A defining trend identified in the report is the shift from overt system exploitation to the abuse of legitimate access. By leveraging compromised credentials and ‘living-off-the-land’ techniques, attackers can blend into routine enterprise operations and significantly delay detection. This approach has compressed the attack lifecycle, enabling adversaries to move from initial access to full operational impact in fewer than 15 days.
To counter this acceleration, the report emphasises the importance of early detection and automated response. esentry says it currently contains low-complexity incidents in under 90 seconds, using a combination of structured threat hunting and centralised telemetry to anticipate and absorb attacker pressure rather than reacting after damage has occurred.
As African organisations continue to digitise, the esentry 2025 Annual Report positions itself as a critical reference point for understanding the continent’s evolving cyber threat environment. The report concludes that protecting Africa’s digital trust will require a shift away from fragmented security tools toward disciplined, coordinated defence frameworks, what esentry describes as a unified Phalanx formation.
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have launched an ambitious $10 billion project to support the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across the continent.
The 10 Billion Initiative intends to accelerate ethical AI adoption and inclusive digital economic growth in Africa.
The initiative follows the Nairobi AI Forum, which took place earlier this month in Kenya and brought together governments, private sector leaders, development partners, and tech innovators to define pathways for impactful AI adoption.
According to the organisations, the strategy is a co-designed collaboration between the Bank Group, UNDP, and commercial partners that aims to raise up to $10 billion by 2035.
The resources will be used to create up to 40 million new jobs across the continent by 2035, through targeted investments that provide the groundwork for AI and accelerate widespread adoption in everything from entrepreneurship and regional data infrastructure to policy frameworks and skill development.
Nicholas Williams, AfDB Group ICT operations division manager, commented: “As a leading multilateral development institution, the bank is leveraging its comparative advantage to ensure Africa is not left behind in the AI era.
“The AI 10 Billion Initiative paves the way for expanded partnerships and sustained investments that will accelerate AI entrepreneurship, strengthen data and infrastructure ecosystems, and support inclusive growth across the continent.”
Kaspersky Threat Research has revealed its analysis of RenEngine, a malware loader that has recently gained public attention. Kaspersky identified RenEngine samples as early as March 2025, with its solutions already protecting users from the threat at that time.
Beyond the cracked games highlighted in recent reports, Kaspersky researchers discovered that attackers created dozens of websites distributing RenEngine through pirated software, including graphics editors like CorelDRAW. This expands the known attack surface beyond the gaming community to anyone seeking unlicensed software.
Kaspersky has recorded incidents in Russia, Brazil, Turkey, Spain and Germany, among other countries. The distribution pattern indicates opportunistic attacks rather than targeted operations.
When Kaspersky first identified RenEngine, the loader was delivering the Lumma stealer. Current attacks distribute ACR Stealer as the final payload, and Vidar stealer has also been observed in some infection chains.
The campaign exploits modified versions of games built on the Ren’Py visual novel engine. When users launch infected installers, a fake loading screen appears while malicious scripts execute in the background. The scripts include sandbox detection capabilities and decrypt a payload that initiates a multi-stage infection chain using HijackLoader, a modular malware delivery tool.
“This threat extends beyond pirated games — attackers are using the same technique to distribute malware through cracked productivity software, which broadens the potential victim pool significantly,” said Pavel Sinenko, lead malware analyst at Kaspersky Threat Research. “Game archive formats vary by engine and title. If an engine doesn’t check the integrity of its resources, attackers can embed malware that executes the moment you click play.”
Kaspersky solutions detect RenEngine as Trojan.Python.Agent.nb and HEUR:Trojan.Python.Agent.gen. HijackLoader is detected as Trojan.Win32.Penguish and Trojan.Win32.DllHijacker.
Conoil Bonanza Winners Emerge
PalmPay Couples Show How Love Is Funded Digitally
KPMG Strengthens Africa Leadership to Support Long‑term Growth Across the Continent
Nigeria, EU Ink Research, Innovation Deal Worth €100Bn
esentry 2025 Report Shows Healthcare, Financial Services and Telecoms as Staging Grounds for Increased Cyberattacks in Africa
NITDA, NBC Explore Strategic Collaboration on Digital Transformation, Media Regulation
Kaspersky Launches OT Calculator to Align Cybersecurity Investments with Business Goals
Accidental Billionaire Opts for Jail Instead of Returning Money Credited Him by Mistake
Why the Future of PR Depends on Healthier Client–Agency Partnerships
Kaspersky Brings more Transparency to Threat Detection with New Hunt Hub
E-Business2 days agoAfDB, UNDP Launch $10Bn AI Initiative for Africa
News3 days agoNITDA Urges Stronger State Partnerships as Key to Digital Economy Goals @ South-South Stakeholders Forum
Telecom3 days agoGSMA Launches Innovation Fund to Accelerate Green Transition Through Mobile Technology
Telecom2 days agoGrey Expands Cross-Border Banking with USD Accounts, USDC Support
Telecom3 days agoProf. Adeyanju is Strengthening Nigeria’s Digital Backbone for a Connected Future in Two Years of Purposeful Leadership
E-Business3 days agoFirm Identifies RenEngine Loader Distributed Through Pirated Games and Software
E-Financial3 days agoFidelity Bank Launches HerFidelity Apprenticeship Programme 2.0 to Boost Women Entrepreneurship
Broadcasting3 days agoSpotify Marks 5 Years in Nigeria with 163.5% Listening Surge, Afrobeats Boom