Dufay and Maillet-Mezeray have their work cut out for them. Under the previous management, Jumia never turned a profitable quarter since it went public in 2019 despite the former co-CEOs consistently mentioning how the company was intentional about its path to profitability during quarterly calls. For instance, last quarter, Poignonnec told TechCrunch that Jumia– projected to have an adjusted EBITDA loss of up to $220 million this year — was progressing on its path to profitability thanks to more consumers placing more orders leading to expanded revenues and disciplined cost control.
Add Jumia to the list of companies that are making large changes to their management. I must confess - this is not a good sign, especially as the new CEO was in one of the company’s smaller markets. I continue to believe that Jumia’s model cant scale in Africa nor will it be successful.