Jumia, Turkey’s Hepsiburada Plan Africa E-Commerce Growth Push

Africa-focused online retailer Jumia Technologies AG and Hepsiburada, one of Turkey’s largest e-commerce platforms, have agreed to jointly expand their offerings across Africa.

Hepsiburada will work with Berlin-based Jumia to roll out Turkish brands, private-label and retail products, Jumia chief commercial officer Hisham El Gabry said in an interview.

“We are starting with Egypt, and then we will expand within the first quarter of 2025 into Morocco,” said El Gabry. “It will evolve from here.” The Turkish company, which manufacturers many of its own products, is able to provide high-quality goods at affordable prices to African consumers, he said.

Jumia, which started in Nigeria in 2012 and is Africa’s biggest e-retailer by footprint, has sought deals and undertaken cost-cutting efforts as it pushes to turn a profit. Often referred to as the “Amazon of Africa,” Jumia has had to do its own mapping in some of its markets and set up logistics networks to cater to a young and increasingly tech-savvy population that uses smartphones to bridge gaps in infrastructure and services.

Since its listing in New York in 2019, Jumia’s shares have dropped 65 percent. Istanbul-based D-Market Elektronik Hizmetler ve Ticaret, also known by its brand name Hepsiburada, has had a similar experience since its 2021 listing on the Nasdaq — the first by a Turkish company — with its stock declining 71 percent. Many of the markets in which they operate struggle with high inflation and debt, volatile currencies and low levels of income.

The Jumia deal lays the groundwork for broader engagement across key African markets, Hepsiburada Chief Executive Officer Nilhan Onal Gökçetekin said.

The collaboration also forms part of the Turkish company’s goal to expand its global footprint and to facilitate cross-border trade for African consumers, he said.

This month, Kazakhstan’s Kaspi.kz said it intended to buy 65.4 percent of Hepsiburada for $1.3 billion in cash, valuing the e-commerce firm at about $1 billion more than its share price at the time.

By Loni Prinsloo

Learn more:

Africa’s E-Commerce Giant Jumia Sets Sights on Egypt

Jumia Egypt’s Chief Executive Officer Hesham Safwat says he’s urging the government to regulate informal retailers by offering them tax incentives and cheap loans that would allow them to market their goods online.