NAIROBI, Kenya, May 11-The Kenya Private Sector Alliance has partnered with the e-commerce service platform Jumia to register and train thousands of businesses to sell their products online.
The program dubbed Digital Commerce Platform, will see Jumia provide free online training ranging from the basics of e-commerce to operations, marketing, finance and sales.
Jumia Chief Executive Officer Sam Chappatte said that the move is aimed at saving jobs for distressed businesses owing to the pandemic.
“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 and give them the tools to sell online effectively”, said Chappatte.
After the training, the businesses can then register and open their shops on Jumia at zero startup costs where they can reach over 4million Kenyans that visit the e-commerce platform.
“We believe, Jumia is the best positioned e-commerce company to do this, with its current scale and countrywide operations – and is prepared to invest upfront in this initiative. It is widely expected that these businesses will list on other online platforms to grow their sales further,” said KEPSA Chief Executive Officer Caroline Karuga
Jumia will cut its commissions on vendors by 50 percent for locally manufactured goods and to 1 percent for all businesses enrolling via the Digital Commerce Program for their first month on the platform.
The initial phase of the KEPSA Digital Commerce Program will be limited to Nairobi, with a view to scale it out to other counties.
KEPSA will also take precautionary measures to ensure the safety of its members during the COVI-19 pandemic.
Jumia’s deliveries are contactless and payments are cashless to observe social distancing.
The WHO has established that e-commerce deliveries are a safe way to do business over COVID-19.
