COVID-19: KEPSA and Jumia launch Digital Commerce Program to support Kenyan businesses

Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) has partnered with e-commerce leader Jumia to register and train local businesses to sell online. Through the Digital Commerce Program, KEPSA and Jumia aim to help businesses digitize so that they grow their digital sales and save jobs amidst COVID-19 outbreak.

The businesses will be trained to sell on Jumia with access to over 4 million Kenyans that visit the e-commerce platform monthly. This move comes at a time when e-commerce platforms are reporting a rise in the number of people visiting their platforms to shop. 

As the COVID-19 continues to spread, movement has been limited and people have now been forced to turn to e-commerce retailing.

“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 & give them the tools to sell online effectively. We hope this will save jobs in the short term and help digitize the economy over the longer term”, said Jumia Kenya CEO, Sam Chappatte.

Businesses will be able to register and open their shops on Jumia at zero startup costs and no hidden costs. In order to help local businesses, Jumia will cut its commissions on vendors by 50% for locally manufactured goods and to 1% for all businesses enrolling via the Digital Commerce Program for their first month on the platform.

“We are pleased to partner with Jumia through the Digital Commerce Program to support Kenyan businesses by giving them the tools & training on how to sell online. We believe, Jumia is the best positioned e-commerce company to do this – with its current scale & 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 CEO, Ms. Carole Karuga.

As Africa’s leading e-Commerce platform, Jumia will provide free online training, ranging from the basics of e-commerce to operations, marketing, finance and sales. A series of online self-study modules will also be available at their Vendor Hub page. Jumia also offers working capital financing to vendors – to help them grow.

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.

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