Jumia Food shut seven African markets, leaving riders chasing final pay

Jumia runs a pan-African e-commerce platform whose Jumia Food app connected food orders with delivery riders and third-party logistics partners.

Jumia was betting that a partner-led food-delivery network could scale alongside its African e-commerce business; it withdrew when the food unit could no longer compete.

Founded in Lagos in 2012, Jumia built an Africa-wide e-commerce business and added Jumia Food. In Kenya, riders such as Evans Kidia delivered through logistics partner Tenadel from 2021.

In December 2023, Jumia discontinued food delivery in seven African countries, including Kenya. Jumia said it had paid its logistics partners in full and had more than 600 of them; former workers and some directly engaged riders said final weeks or wallet balances were still unpaid.

Jumia Food closed in seven African markets. By 2024-05-10, former riders were still pursuing balances while Jumia maintained that partner payments had been completed.

Jumia used a partner fleet to enter food delivery without directly employing most riders.

The food unit faced deep-pocketed, aggressive rivals in multiple African markets.

A rapid seven-market shutdown left the platform and its logistics partners with conflicting accounts of who had settled riders.

The reported unpaid balances made an operational exit into a trust and accountability problem.

Partner-led delivery expands quickly, but outsourcing payroll does not outsource accountability when a platform exits a market.

As of 2024-05-10, Jumia Food had exited seven African markets. Jumia said it had fulfilled all payments due to third-party logistics providers, while former direct workers and partner-hired riders in Kenya and Nigeria still reported unpaid final wages or balances.