Jumia and Kaymu today launched a joint initiative in Africa related to logistics, operations management and infrastructure development. This new service aims to highlight an emerging ecosystem of jobs in e-commerce.
The first goal of this venture is to create 100,000 jobs in Africa in logistic services.
This initiative, AIG Express, is Jumia and Kaymu’s response to the rapid growth of African e-commerce. AIG Express plans to integrate existing logistics providers into a single network that will meet the growing needs of online sellers across the continent.
“We’re currently delivering up to 100,000 packages a day for Jumia and Kaymu, and we expect this number to grow around five times by end of 2015. In order to provide convenient, fast and friendly customer service, we need to quickly scale up the delivery network”, said Indrek Heinloo, who is leading the initiative across Africa.
AIG Express intends to work closely with local logistics entrepreneurs to fill these gaps by implementing technology and training to handle e-commerce logistics.
“We have developed an approach which will help logistics companies in Africa become as effective as the companies in more developed markets. We provide a common platform that would link all logistics providers and enable serving the demand of online customers. Through consolidation of volumes from e-commerce platforms such as Jumia and Kaymu, we provide a constant stream of business which can help logistics companies to grow. We already have a number of companies incorporated to our network – from established logistics companies with decades of experience to newly created local ventures – several of which have been created by African entrepreneurs specifically on the backbone of Africa Internet Group’s businesses.” said Indrek.
Presently there are close to 10,000 employees, contractors and sales agents whose primary income comes from the Africa Internet Group.
Sacha Poignonnec, co-CEO Africa Internet Group, said: “When we look at unemployment rates, and when we see the growth of e-commerce, we are optimistic about the opportunities this new industry brings. We believe the ecosystem of jobs that will emerge around e-commerce over the coming decade will provide a lot of opportunities, and logistics services are a key contributor to this”.