Why Jumia Co-founders Jeremy Hodara, Sacha Poignonnec resigned as Co-CEOs

The two Co-founders of Jumia Group, Sacha Poignonnec and Jeremy Hodara, have resigned as Co-CEOs of the African e-commerce company.

According to a statement issued by Jumia, Francis Dufay, who previously held the position of CEO at Jumia Ivory Coast, will immediately replace both Sacha and Jeremy as acting CEO. 

Jumia has also announced that Jumia Group’s former Chief Financial Officer Antoine Maillet-Mezeray has been promoted to Group Executive Vice President, Finance & Operations. 

The outgoing Co-CEOs are credited with overseeing Jumia’s product expansion to include a marketplace, JumiaPay and a logistics segment and its spread in 11 countries across Africa. 

“We thank Jeremy and Sacha for their leadership over the last decade to envision and build a company that became the leading pan-African e-commerce player. As we look ahead to the next chapter of Jumia’s journey, we want to bring more focus to the core e-commerce business as part of a more simplified and efficient organization with stronger fundamentals and a clearer path to profitability,” said Jumia’s board chairman, Jonathan Klein. 

He added: “We look forward to working closely with Francis, Antoine, and the leadership team to execute these objectives and continue on our mission of offering a compelling e-commerce platform to consumers, sellers, and the broader Jumia ecosystem in Africa.”

In a departure message he shared on his LinkedIn page, Sacha Poignonnec expressed gratitude for getting the chance to work and build the company for the past 11 years. 

“The day has come to open a new chapter for Jumia and a new chapter for me. In a way, it’s with a heavy heart because I will miss everything about Jumia, but at the same time every founder needs to pass the flame one day, and I am so grateful for having had a chance to build this great company for the last 11 years. We have achieved so many amazing things, but it will be hard to make an inventory, here is not the place and the time; and there is still so much to do. 

“I want to thank all our team members, past and present, for the exceptional values they have consistently displayed. You have given me every day the energy to fight and achieve the sometimes impossible. Together we have created a unique work culture, very human and very strong. Let’s cherish that and continue to nurture it. Strategies change, priorities change, and challenges evolve, but the culture always remains. We are our values.” 

“I also want to thank – in no particular order – our sellers, our restaurants, our drivers, our JForce agents, our logistics partners, our suppliers, our board members past and present, and all the other stakeholders who contribute every day to making e-commerce, food delivery and digital payments possible in our 11 countries. We rely on you, you rely on us, we are together in this journey and we win together. Always. 

“Jumia is in great hands with the new Management Board, we have been working for years together and we’re confident they will do very well. I will always be a supporter of Jumia and Africa. The best is yet to come.” 

This comes as the price of Jumia stocks went tanked on Monday by 14.29 per cent as investors dumped the shares following the announcements of the management changes.

Jumia has not returned profits yet since it was listed at the New York Stock Exchange when it reported a loss of $227 million.

The listed e-commerce platform also had a $1.6 billion retained loss and $350 million only in cash in the bank at the end of June 2022 making its needed journey to profitability urgent.

Jumia says it will announce more measures the business will take in its new journey to profitablity during its Q3 earnings call slated for November 17, 2022.