Drone delivery picks up in Africa as Jumia pairs with Zipline

Jumia Technologies AG

01/09/2022 09:02

By Bhargav Acharya
    Sept 1 (Reuters) - Africa-focused e-commerce firm Jumia
Technologies  JMIA.N  has partnered with drone-delivery startup
Zipline to deliver household items to remote areas of Ghana, the
companies said on Thursday.
    The venture will combine San Francisco-based Zipline's
automated, on-demand delivery system with Jumia's distribution
network to enable customers from remote and rural areas to order
and receive electronics, cosmetics, fashion and other products.
    Jumia, an online marketplace for vendors and food sellers,
with associated services including logistics and payments, was
the first Africa-focused tech start-up to list on the New York
Stock Exchange in 2019. It has a current market capitalisation
of $741 million, according to Refinitiv data.
    The new venture is part of Jumia's plan to reach its growing
customer base in such areas, which make up about 27% of the
company's deliveries, a Jumia spokesman told Reuters, adding he
could not immediately give financial details of the project.
    "This will... provide much-needed access to rural and remote
areas where conventional delivery services have challenges,"
said Apoorva Kumar, Jumia Group chief operating officer.     
    Drone deliveries of medical supplies and vaccines picked up
pace during the COVID-19 pandemic as countries and companies
rushed to find innovative ways to reach people when movement of
goods was restricted. 
    Many companies are now looking beyond medical needs, with
Amazon.com Inc  AMZN.O , United Parcel Service Inc  UPS.N  and
FedEx Corp  FDX.N  all working on several pilot programs to
deliver household goods and other services to customers. 
    Zipline currently offers drone delivery of blood, vaccines
and other medical equipment in Ghana, Rwanda, Nigeria and the
United States, with its most recent foray into Japan.
    After a successful pilot program and testing in Ghana a few
months ago, Jumia and Zipline plan to expand into Ivory Coast
and Nigeria, they said in a statement, but gave no timeframe.
   Jumia operates in 11 African countries and has more than 30
warehouses and 3,000 drop-off and pick-up stations in its
logistics network.

 (Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru; editing by James
Macharia Chege, Kirsten Donovan)
 ((Bhargav.Acharya@thomsonreuters.com;))