Charles Ballard has been appointed as the new CEO of Jumia Kenya effective from March 1, 2023.

Ballard now replaces Juan Seco, who left the e-commerce company after working for eight years at Jumia Kenya to take up another role at a pan-African FinTech company.

According to his Linkedin profile, Seco revealed that he had joined financial technology company Mukuru to become its Chief Growth Officer and Managing Director for East Africa.

“After 8 incredible years at Jumia Group, where I had the chance to be part of the founding team of #jumiapay and subsequently lead Jumia Kenya, I am excited to share that I have joined Mukuru as Chief Growth Officer and MD East Africa,” said Seco.

On his Part, Ballard said he will continue paying attention to Jumia Kenya’s focus on boosting e-commerce in rural Kenya to reach majority of the Kenyan population.

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“I am excited to continue driving the e-commerce narrative in rural Kenya where more than 70 per cent of the population lives,” said Ballard.

He added, “Access to Modern Retail is a challenge in these areas, which is a great opportunity to grow our online marketplace. E-commerce can bring better prices, more choices, and convenience to the rural Kenyans.”

Ballard joined Jumia Kenya in 2019 as Head of Performance and Planning and in 2021 he was appointed the Chief Operating Officer overseeing the expansion and deployment of Jumia activities in Kenya.

In 2022, the new CEO was named Senior Vice President - Commercials.

Before Jumia, he worked as a retail consultant at Sagaci Research in Kenya from 2015 to 2019, and before as Deputy CFO at global humanitarian NGO ACTED from 2012 to 2015.

Ballard, who has resided in Kenya for almost a decade, is married and has two children.

Juan Seco was appointed the Jumia Kenya CEO in July 2022 taking over at the popular e-commerce from Betty Mwangi, who left the firm in a huff after serving for only 8 months.

Betty took over as CEO in November 2021 from Sam Chappatte, who held the post since 2016, with the latest changes adding to the volatile period Jumia has been going through.

This also comes five months after Jumia Technologies founders and co-CEOs Sacha Poignonnec and Jeremy Hodara both resigned from their posts after insistent losses.

Francis Dufay, who had held various leadership positions at Jumia since 2014, was appointed as the acting CEO as the firm searched for a permanent replacement for the two.

“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 Chairman Jonathan Klein in a statement then.