Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) has partnered with Jumia to help digitize businesses amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. The program will help businesses grow their digital sales and save jobs. Thousands of businesses will benefit from the program. Jumia will register and train them to sell online, giving them access to reach over 4M customers already subscribed to the platform.
The businesses will receive, free online training, ranging from the basics of e-commerce to operations, marketing, finance, and sales. A series of online self-study modules will also be available at the Vendor Hub page. Additionally, Jumia will offer working capital financing to vendors to help them grow.
“Now more than ever, we need to be all-hands-on-deck to help cushion businesses from the impact of COVID-19. We will commit resources to support KEPSA’s Digital Commerce initiative, to train vendors & give them the tools to sell online effectively. We hope this will save jobs in the short term. And help digitize the economy over the longer term”, said Jumia Kenya CEO, Sam Chappatte.
Businesses will be able to register and open their shops on Jumia at zero startup costs and no hidden costs. In order to help local businesses, Jumia will cut its commissions on vendors by 50% for locally manufactured goods and to 1% for all businesses enrolling via the Digital Commerce Program for their first month on the platform.
“We are pleased to partner with Jumia through the Digital Commerce Program to support Kenyan businesses by giving them the tools & training on how to sell online. We believe, Jumia is the best-positioned e-commerce company to do this with its current scale & countrywide operations. The businesses will list on other online platforms to grow their sales further.” said KEPSA CEO, Ms. Carole Karuga.
The initial phase of the KEPSA Digital Commerce Program is limited to Nairobi. With a view to scaling it out to other counties. For the safety of the consumers, Jumia has also commissioned contactless deliveries and payments.