Pan-African eCommerce giant Jumia has teamed up with logistics company Zipline to deliver household goods to remote parts of Ghana via drone.
According to media reports Thursday (Sept. 1), the partnership melds Zipline’s automated, on-demand delivery system with Jumia’s distribution network, which lets customers in more isolated regions purchase and receive electronics, cosmetics and other products.
The companies have already tested the project in Ghana and plan to expand the effort into Nigeria and Ivory Coast.
Learn more: Drone Delivery Services Shape Africa’s Healthcare Space
Zipline has also worked with the Rwandan Ministry of Health to deliver on-demand blood to rural health facilities.
Since the first blood delivery six years ago, Zipline has scaled nationwide and now delivers specialized blood components and medicines to more than 350 locations in the East African nation, handling upwards of three-quarters of blood distribution outside of the capital, Kigali.
Read more: Nigeria: Hotbed for Growing Q-Commerce Market in Africa
Meanwhile, it’s been a busy few weeks for Jumia. As PYMNTS reported Monday, the company recently debuted Jumia Food Mart in Nigeria, its first move into the quick-commerce sector. The service lets Jumia customers in Lagos order up to 4,000 popular consumer goods on the platform, with the goal of processing deliveries in 20 minutes or less.
Jumia Nigeria CEO Massimiliano Spalazzi said how speed and convenience are increasingly shaping consumer behavior, which means the company needs to meet this growing demand.
See also: Jumia Pins Hopes on Diversified Revenue Streams, Cost Savings to Reach Profitability
“We believe that Jumia’s quick commerce offering meets our consumers’ demand for convenient, fast delivery of everyday products, especially in this post-COVID era,” he said in an interview with the Guardian Nigeria. “Our micro fulfillment centers within neighborhoods will enable us to deliver to consumers in rapid time.”
Last month also saw Jumia CEO Sacha Poignonnec unveil a tripartite strategy for breaking even during an investor presentation consisting of a focus on each “building block of our path to profitability: usage growth momentum … accelerating monetization [and] cost efficiencies.”
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