African e-commerce giant Jumia has reshuffled its leadership team, with founders Jeremy Hodara and Sacha Poignannec stepping down as co-CEOs today.
The two founders, who until today shared the role of CEO, have been at the helm of Africa’s only listed company for over a decade, overseeing Jumia’s pan-African expansion to 11 countries and a product journey that now includes the marketplace, JumiaPay, its payment division, and logistics platform.
Francis Dufay, who previously served as the CEO of one of the Jumia startup markets in Ivory Coast, now replaces both founders. The board of the company announced his appointment in a statement. Dufay has held several senior positions at Jumia since 2014 as CEO and Vice President for Africa, responsible for the group’s e-commerce business across the continent.
According to Board of Directors, Dufay and Antoine Maillet-Mezeray, the former CFO of Jumia Group, have been appointed as members of the company’s board of directors. With more than six years at Jumia, Maillet-Mezeray, who leads the financial function of the company and develops it further in the public market, has also received a promotion.
“We thank Jeremy and Sacha for their leadership over the past ten years in designing and building the company into a leading pan-African e-commerce operator,” Jonathan Klein, chairman of the board of directors, said of the announcement.
“As we look to the next chapter of Jumia’s journey, we want to focus even more on our core e-commerce business as part of a simpler and more efficient organization with stronger fundamentals and a clearer path to profitability.”
We look forward to working closely with Francis, Antoine, and the management team to achieve these goals and continue its mission to provide consumers, sellers, and the wider Jumia ecosystem with a compelling e-commerce platform in Africa
Jumia says it is also making selective senior management changes, shifting its focus from placing managers and decision centers closer to consumers and sellers in Africa. At the same time, a search for a permanent CEO is underway.
The outgoing CEOs said: “We are proud to build Jumia as an e-commerce pioneer on the continent, creating a unique culture.” a great platform where millions of consumers and thousands of sellers find value.
It is time for us to pass the baton to a new team. We are enthusiastic about the business ahead and look forward to encouraging the company from a new perspective.
The company says it will provide more information about this release and business priorities as part of its third quarter earnings call, scheduled for November 17, 2022.
