The E-commerce giant Jumia has sent home dozens of workers in Kenya branch over escalating losses in the last few months.
The Berlin-based Jumia Technologies recently shut down operations in Cameroon, Tanzania and Rwanda.
Known for online business transactions, the Jumia company is popular among Kenyans who live in big towns and cities.
In a statement, the company on Tuesday said it had authorized some headcount reductions across all geographies.
“After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to undergo some headcount reductions across our business verticals and geographies,” Jumia’s local office said in a statement.
“While decisions like these are always difficult, we need to put our focus and resources where they can bring the best value and help Jumia thrive. We are supporting all impacted employees during this period of transition, ” the statement adds.
Its parent company made a net loss of €163.4 million (Sh18.3 billion) in the nine months ended September, representing a 39 per cent jump from €117.3 million (Sh13.1 billion) the year before.
In 2018, the company had a total of 686 workforces in Kenya. The number of those affected could not be immediately established.
Despite scaling down the number of employees, Jumia said it will focus on profit-making and possibly overturn the misfortunes.
“We regularly conduct portfolio reviews which assess the allocation of our resources to business verticals and geographies against multiple criteria, including financial performance, commercial environment as well as the ease and cost of doing business,” the company said.
Kenya has been struggling with the economy in recent months with several private companies folding down.