Jumia, a pan-African e-commerce platform, has announced plans to close its South African online fashion retailer, ‘Zando’, by the end of the year.

Speaking to Reuters on Tuesday, Francis Dufay, chief executive officer (CEO) of Jumia, said the company’s Tunisian operations will also be shut down to focus on its other markets.

The e-commerce firm operates in 14 countries including Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Uganda, Tunisia, Algeria, Ivory Coast, and South Africa.

Dufay said Jumia’s decision to exit the South African and Tunisian markets is owed to complex macroeconomics, the competitive environment, and low medium-term potential for growth and profitability.

“The trajectory of the countries did not align with the strategy of the group,” he said.

“We believe it’s the right decision. It enables us to refocus our resources on the other nine markets, where we see more promising trends in terms of scale and profitability.”

Dufay said the organisation’s success in other regions, would “easily enable us to recover” lost volumes from South Africa and Tunisia.

“These two businesses accounted for only 2.7% of total orders and 3% of gross merchandise value in the six months ended June 30,” the CEO said.

Dufay said he is not planning to sell either operation, which will hold clearance sales before shutting.

He added that the closures would axe about 110 jobs, but some workers may be relocated to other parts of the group’s business.

Dufay said in South Africa “growth potential is definitely more difficult” because of the highly competitive environment.

Zando.co.za was founded in 2012 and has since grown to become a well-known South African online fashion platform.

In Tunisia, the business has been operating under the Jumia brand for a decade, selling general merchandise.

On December 14, Jumia said it would shut down its food delivery business, Jumia Food, by the end of December 2023.

The house of representatives has asked the federal government to reverse the recent hike in petrol price.

The lawmakers also demanded a rollback in the price of cooking gas.

The lower legislative chamber passed the resolution during plenary session on Wednesday following the adoption of a motion co-sponsored by Kingsley Chinda, minority leader; Aliyu Madaki, deputy minority leader, and 109 lawmakers.

On October 9, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited increased the price of petrol across its retail outlets nationwide.

Moving the motion, Madaki said in recent months, the prices of petrol and cooking gas have “skyrocketed and continue to so do”, creating an “unsustainable financial burden” on ordinary Nigerians.

He said the removal of fuel subsidy, coupled with global oil price volatility and the depreciation of the naira have contributed significantly to the rising cost of petrol and cooking gas for many households.

The lawmaker noted that the escalating petrol and gas prices are impacting the cost of transportation, food, essential goods and healthcare, and further “pushing many families into deeper financial hardship”.

“Businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are struggling to manage their operational costs due to increased fuel prices, threatening economic stability and job security,” Madaki said.

He said federal government’s efforts to repair domestic refineries and boost local refining capacity to address the petrol crisis has not delivered significant results.

The legislator said the unchecked inflationary pressure caused by the increased prices of these essential items “can lead to social unrest, increased poverty rates, and negative long-term”.

Madaki said unless urgent steps are taken to control the rising cost of petrol and cooking gas, the nation “will go into an economic crisis leading to negative outcomes like increased crime rate and mortality rate”.

THE DEBATE

Sada Soli from Katsina opposed the motion, arguing that it is not relevant as a joint ad hoc committee of the house and senate is already investigating the issue.

George Ozodinobi from Anambra said that the recent petrol price hike has significantly undermined the impact of the newly approved N70,000 minimum wage.

“Our people cannot transport their farm produce to the market and because of that (petrol price hike),” he said.

”There is an increase in the prices of food we must pressure the government. We also need to review our OPEC policy. We don’t have to be in OPEC because that is the only way we can address this issue.”

Olumide Osoba from Ogun proposed that the motion should referred to the joint ad hoc committee of the house and senate.

Following extensive debate, the motion was adopted when it was put to a voice vote by Tajudeen Abbas, the presiding officer.

Consequently, the house asked the federal government to “take immediate steps to stabilise petrol and cooking gas prices through targeted interventions such as temporary price relief measures, tax reductions, or subsidies on LPG for low-income households”.

The green chamber also urged the NNPCL, ministry of petroleum resources and other relevant agencies to expedite the repair and maintenance of domestic refineries.

The house urged the NNPCL to boost local refining capacity as a stop-gap measure to reduce the dependence on imported refined petroleum products.

The lower legislative chamber asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to implement monetary policies that will mitigate the adverse effects of fuel price hikes on inflation, particularly on essential goods.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, has announced that the minimum wage for civil servants in the state is N85,000.

Sanwo-Olu spoke on Wednesday during an interview with Channels Television.

“I’m glad to let you know that the minimum wage for Lagos, which we have discussed with our union, is N85,000 today,” Sanwo-Olu said.

“It is not a competition. I am not going to say that we are paying more than some people, it is a function of affordability and capacity.

“We know too well that when people live in Lagos, Lagos has a premium in terms of the cost of living. We are fully aware.

“We also increased our salary earlier in the year. I will want to come back in January and say that I have been able to increase the minimum wage of Lagos to N100,000, not because I want to make anybody look bad, but because I want my people to have a living wage.”

In July, President Bola Tinubu signed the minimum wage bill, increasing the workers’ pay package from N30,000 to N70,000, into law.

‘A LAGOS THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE’

Speaking on the identity of Lagos, Sanwo-Olu said he envisions a state where the public transport system is efficient and reliable, and businesses thrive well.

“The dream identity will be a Lagos that truly works for everyone. A Lagos where you can have predictable journey time. You can come out of the office and simply say that in 10 minutes or 35 minutes, you can get to a predictable destination,” the governor said.

“A Lagos that encourages all the creative capabilities and minds that we have. A Lagos where the strength is in the people — the social life and the creative world.

“A Lagos where you expect safety and security to be paramount. A Lagos where the financial transactions continue to blossom well.”