Jumia posts $20 million operating loss in Q3 2024 as revenue declines 

The company reported revenues of $36.4 million, representing a 13% year-over-year decrease but a 9% increase in constant currency terms, reflecting resilience in core operational markets despite significant currency depreciation in Nigeria and Egypt.

Jumia’s Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) for the quarter stood at $162.9 million, down by 1% year-over-year but up 29% in constant currency.

Despite the decline in revenue, the company recorded a marginal increase in its quarterly active customer base growing 1% year-over-year, while orders were up by 4%, indicating steady usage amid external challenges.

Commenting on the results, Jumia’s CEO, Francis Dufay, said:

“We are encouraged to see continued resilience in our usage and business fundamentals despite the significant first quarter currency depreciation headwinds in Nigeria and Egypt that continue to impact reported GMV and topline revenue.  

We undertook several major operational steps in the quarter, including improvements to our logistics network and the consolidation of our warehouse footprint to enable greater efficiencies and increase supply capacity.  

“While these changes negatively impacted operations and expenses in the third quarter, we believe that these efforts position us well to scale and drive profitable growth as we expand our footprint beyond the major cities (“upcountry”).”  

As part of its strategic repositioning, Jumia ceased operations in South Africa and Tunisia to reallocate resources to higher-growth markets.

This move follows an extensive review of the company’s footprint, aimed at driving efficiencies in its logistics network and consolidating its warehousing operations.

“While these updates will have a near-term impact on our operations and financial performance, we believe that our efforts position the business well to scale on our path to profitability,” said Dufay.

After posting a 64% decline in operating loss for 2023, down to $73 million, Jumia’s CEO, Dufay, who has been implementing several strategies to cut its losses and move to profitability expressed confidence that the business would back to growth this year while further reducing its losses.

The company also had to discontinue its food business, Jumia Food, which was described as unprofitable.