Barely one year after it suffered class litigations in the United States for alleged false information at its listing on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE, Jumia is facing another bout of leadership instability with the reported exit of Jeremy Doutte, its Executive Vice President.
Jumia has since its formation suffered high leadership turnover in a manner analysts said is hurting the reputation of the e-commerce company as investors would easily shy away from a brand that suffers from management instability.
Doutte was also said to have strategically traded his shares in the company he once marketed as an industry leader in Africa’s e-commerce bourse. He heads to the United Arab Emirates, UAE, where he has joined Talabat, an online food ordering company based in the UAE.
The management of Talabat has since confirmed the arrival of Doutte as Vice President and they believe he would add to the strategic management of the food company in its new quest to widen its operational base and ensure profitability.
Tomaso Rodriguez, CEO of Talabat said in the statement: “I am pleased to introduce Jeremy Doutte who is joining as Vice President – UAE… Jeremy joins us from Jumia where he spent more than eight years, lastly as Executive Vice President. He is a seasoned leader with a wealth of experience that will enable us to continue accelerating our growth trajectory in the UAE.”
The exit of Doutte is projected to hurt Jumia as it struggles to contain headwinds and sundry storms occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic and sagging investor confidence arising primarily from the controversial US listing.
Industry watchers say the shrinking fortunes of Jumia would clear the stage for ambitious Konga, another Africa-focused e-commerce company which in recent years has been expanding in operations and influence. Konga and Jumia are the two most prominent e-commerce companies in Nigeria, Africa’s single largest market. Both companies have been angling for control of the Nigerian e-commerce market which has been growing with the deepening of the nation’s telecom market.
Usually reliable sources at Jumia confirmed Doutte’s exit from a company he vehemently defended especially during Jumia’s stormy moments after it listed at NYSE. Jumia was exposed on May 9, 2019 by Citron Research, a respected US-based firm with a history of indepth research in stock markets and investments.
Citron Research published a report accusing Jumia of overstating certain financial metrics in its April 2019 IPO prospectus and omitting adverse information about the number of returned, undelivered, or canceled orders from the prospectus.
On the strength of this information, Jumia’s share price fell $6.22 per share, approximately 18.8%, to close at $26.89 on May 9, 2019.
Ever since the ill-fated listing, Jumia, an Africa-focused Germany-registered e-commerce company has struggled as key investors lost funds and those on the edge refused to commit to the company. Jumia’s outing in the United States heavily dented the reputation of e-commerce in Africa but industry watchers were quick to dismiss this, insisting that Jumia does not represent Africa.
The latest quitting of Jumia by Doutte spells another round of instability for the e-commerce firm which has had to undertake landmark decisions including closing its operations in some African countries.
“Jumia shut down its Cameroon operations, firing its entire staff, no public announcement, no special word from the group or its CEO. The brutality of the news to the staff echoes their management style and is, I believe, one of the reasons for its demise,” Rebecca Enonchong, an expert on Africa ICT marketplace reported in November 2019.
This closure saw Cameroon become the 4th African subsidiary to be closed following that of Congo and Gabon. Jumia had also exited Rwanda last year, closing down its business save its food delivery service in the country.
Doutte was one of the influential voices at Jumia where he spent eight years holding a number of positions including CEO, Managing Director; as well as Executive Vice President (EVP) for its Marketplace Operations.
