Africa-focused e-commerce company Jumia is using artificial intelligence (AI) across operations like customer service and marketing to cut jobs, joining the firms that are leveraging the new technology to lower their expenses.
The New York Stock Exchange-listed company, which has operations in Kenya and eight other African markets, disclosed that it has shed seven percent of its total employee count in the nine months to September aided by the technology.
Jumia had 2,163 employees based in 16 countries as of December 2024, with 320 based in East and Southern Africa alone, per its disclosures to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
In its 2025 third-quarter results, the company says it has axed over 100 roles already and is using AI-driven workflows as part of ongoing measures to reduce operating costs.
“The total headcount has declined by seven percent since December 31, 2024, with just over 2,010 employees on payroll as of September 30, 2025,” Jumia said.
“AI-driven workflows in customer service, marketing, and technology operations are improving efficiency, streamlining processes, and supporting a leaner cost structure. These initiatives are contributing to ongoing reductions in total operating expenses and improved scalability.”
The online marketplace was first launched in Nigeria in 2012, enabling the delivery of packages through local partners.
It opened shop in Kenya in 2013, and has since entered Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal and Uganda.
Jumia’s US SEC disclosures show that 52.9 percent of its workforce as of December 2024 comprised marketplace operations and management employees, while logistics staff made up 40.4 percent.
While the company reached six million customers in the nine African markets last year, it has struggled to turn a profit since its launch. In the three months to September, Jumia recorded operating losses of $17.4 million (Sh2.25 billion).
The platform has been cutting costs by shedding headcount, exiting some markets such as South Africa and Tunisia in late 2024. In 2023, Jumia also removed grocery items and food delivery services in seven African markets, including Kenya, citing unfavourable conditions. In contrast, the traditional wholesale and retail industry in Kenya has been seeing growth; the sector saw employment numbers increase from 260,899 in 2018 to 276,127 in 2024, according to data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
Kenya’s leading retail chain, Naivas, for instance, had 108 branches in the year to June, up from 66 in 2020, and saw net profits surge 43.4 percent year-on-year to Sh2.42 billion.
The company’s sales have more than doubled from Sh54 billion in 2020.
Jumia joins companies ramping up job cuts to cut spending while automating routine and repetitive tasks through generative AI and agents.
American online marketplace operator Amazon last month said it would slash 14,000 jobs from its 350,000-member corporate workforce, with more layoffs expected next year, partly due to AI adoption.
Last month alone, American companies announced more than 25,000 job cuts, while in Europe, the total topped 20,000, according to an analysis by the Reuters news agency.
