As SafeBoda exits Nigeria and Jumia shut down its Dubai office. What next?
Interesting fact: This is the second time that SafeBoda - the Ugandan ride-hailing startup, is leaving an African country.
Greetings!
If you’re already smelling all the fried turkey and chicken that usually comes with the season, then Merry Christmas in a few days to you. While thinking through 2022 and what has transpired in the African tech space - layoffs, bursts, location retreats, workplace impropriety and many others, one question has remained constant in all my varying thoughts - “What is good growth?”
Earlier this month, news from two African startups leaving a location because of a decline in growth surfaces: SafeBoda - a Ugandan ride-hailing startup and Jumia - a leading e-commerce platform in Africa.
SafeBoda.
Interesting fact: This is the second time that SafeBoda - the Ugandan ride-hailing startup, is leaving an African country. The first time was - Kenyan.
The company cited “bringing the company to profitability by deepening its core transportation offering” in Uganda, its largest market as the reason it’s shutting down its Nigerian operation.
Some fun facts as seen on TechCabal;
SafeBoda has announced a car-hailing pilot in Kampala
SafeBoda has secured additional undisclosed funding to support its path to profitability
Its car-hailing business has grown 40% weekly since its launch in early September
Quick Stats.
As of 2020, the average startup failure rate in Africa stood at 54%. However, the rate differed across countries. In Ethiopia and Rwanda, 75% of the startups ceased operations, while Kenyan startups had a failure rate of 24% in the same year.
Jumia
Barely two months after Jumia co-CEOs stepped down from their roles in November, the acting head - Francos Dufay, is moving Jumia’s top management from Dubai to Africa, in a bid to cut costs and redirect the company focus. Francos said in an interview with Bloomberg - “As we are an Africa-focused company, we want our leaders to be based with customers, vendors and employees,”. Amazon announced in October that they are moving to Africa and this single act will be giving Jumia a run for its money while they try to capture as much marketshare quickly. Africans already shop on Amazon, and as the cross-border payment gets better, it will be a huge source of concern for Jumia.
Some fun facts about Jumia;
Jumia went public in 2019 in a New York listing, hailed as the Amazon of Africa
Jumia’s shares have plunged by 68%, trading at $4.81
It expects an adjusted Ebitda loss of $200 million to $220 million this year
Not only Jumia and SafeBoda, but we also have startups that squandered investors’ money and shut down operations, RiseVest CEO was accused of workplace impropriety, and Nestcoin reduced headcounts because of the whole FTX saga. There are more.
What can be defined as good growth in tech startups? And how can an organization structure efficiently to enable them to experience good growth?
Overall, good growth in a tech startup is typically a combination of strong performance across multiple metrics, including revenue, user growth, market share, and customer satisfaction.
Sam.
In other news.
Platform-based ecosystems are Africa’s new plane of competition
“Enterprises now focus on enabling consumers, employees, and ecosystem partners. Companies no longer just serve customers; they collaborate with them. They no longer just compete with rivals; they partner with them. They’re no longer limited by industry boundaries; they ignore them. In short: platform-based ecosystems are the new plane of competition.” - Yaron Assabi, Founder & CEO of MVNE. IT News Africa
Moove will use the new funds to scale its fleet of EVs in the UAE
“This financing is a milestone for Moove — our first sukuk issuance which showcases our growth and sustainability as a global company. Equally important is that this furthers our mission to build the biggest EV ride-hailing fleet in the region, to drive forward mobility electrification and enable cities to reach their net-zero targets,” Moove Co-founder and Co-CEO Ladi Delano said.
As part of its launch in the UAE, Moove said that it will roll out its EV charging app, Moove Charge, which allows users to locate charge available points, filtering by charge speed and wallet compatibility. Pymnts
‘I thought crypto exchanges were safe’: the lesson in FTX’s collapse
With FTX’s spectacular collapse, he’s now awaiting the outcome of the liquidation process that is likely to see him, 30,000 other Australians and more than 1.2 million customers worldwide lose everything.
“I thought these exchanges were safe,” Anthony said.
He was wrong. The Conversation
What we are reading.
African startups are weathering the funding storm with acquisitions
'Tough times': Warnings sound over China's rapid 'zero-COVID' exit
Largest Ever, 39,000 Plus Bitcoin Leaves Binance in 24H
About The Briefing.
The Briefing is a quick bite briefing of African tech and business activities trending. The writers’ opinion on one huge trending topic that matters, followed by “In Other News” and “What We Are Reading”
This Briefing by Sam.
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