Despite the closure of market leader JUMIA, e-commerce players in Cameroon do not seem to have bowed out just yet. Some are managing to come out on top and adapt to the realities of the situation in order to survive…
James Masso Mpessa has been working in the e-commerce sector since 2016.He joined Jumia Cameroon in 2017 as a sales representative for the Jumia deals website, then in 2018 jumia.cm, as Academy Officer (training Jumia sellers on how to use their seller spaces).
He was appointed VRM (Vendor Relations Manager) before the closure of Jumia Cameroon was officially announced.
In early 2020, he joined the e-commerce company AFRIBOBO.COM as Category Manager.
Can you tell us about your activities?
is a general classifieds website (real estate, automobiles, electronics, jobs, etc.) where you can sell, buy, or rent anything and communicate simply, quickly, efficiently, and locally.
We connect supply and demand in a relevant way without charging any fees or commissions and by increasing the visibility of our advertisers' goods and services.
How long have you been in business?
After Jumia's activities in Cameroon were put on hold, Jules NDAM
, with whom I worked at Afribaba.cm (AFRIBABA SARL) and Jumia, decided to launch his own business alongside a long-time partner and former colleague at afribaba.cm, Nina Adelaide Kuisseu Epse NDJOUCHEU
.
We offer a service that we believe is tailored to local needs, based on past experience, and afribobo.com
has been operational since December 1, 2019, which is now two months ago. We are quite satisfied with the development of the site and the feedback we have received from users to date.
What is the business model?
Our business model is basically that of a classified ads site, i.e., visibility for advertisers on the one hand and banner ads for corporations on the other, thanks to the relevant content and organic traffic it generates.
Many players say that a large part of e-commerce in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa is done via social networks such as WhatsApp or Facebook. Do you plan to expand into these channels? How will you use them?
Social networks do indeed represent a significant market share of online transactions in Cameroon.
And the temporary cessation of activities by the pan-African e-commerce giant in Cameroon has increased this market share.
However, the conversion rate of these social networks is relatively low compared to that of classified ad sites such as Afribobo.com (whose traffic comes mainly from search engines).
We use these social networks for digital marketing to build brand awareness
. What are your prospects for development?
All our development prospects revolve around customer satisfaction (advertisers and buyers) + the scale effect.
Like any business, we will have to make our activities profitable in order to survive.
However, the most effective and sustainable way to achieve this in our context is to make life easier for our users by connecting sellers and buyers in an efficient and relevant way.
We are also increasing the number of partnerships, such as the one we have just signed with Facebook for its Free Basics program (internet.org), which will allow people without mobile data on their phones to connect to afribobo.com for free throughout Cameroon (in the case of Cameroon, internet.org is working with MTN Cameroon).
Jumia Cameroon ceased its activities at the national level, and in other countries, just as you were launching your activities. What is your view on this subject? How do you think you will succeed where others have failed?
In reality, the departure of this e-commerce giant leaves a huge void in Cameroon.
We (the AFRIBOBO
team) have a track record of success (gained with Afribaba Cameroon,
which was acquired by Jumia) in the field of classified ads in Cameroon.
We intend to repeat this success story thanks to the experience we have gained in these companies on the one hand, and by listening to users and constantly adapting to the local context on the other.
How do you see the future of e-commerce in Cameroon, and more broadly in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa?
As in all parts of the world where significant changes have taken place in consumer cultures, Cameroon and sub-Saharan Africa in general are undergoing a transformation in purchasing, selling, and information habits.
Demographics, the proliferation of smartphones, and internet access point to a promising future for e-commerce in this part of the world.
However, the successive and unsuccessful experiences of major players in the past force us to question certain constraints on the adaptability of the business to local contexts.
We are firmly committed to making a meaningful contribution to this transformation, which aims to make life easier for internet users and enable as many local entrepreneurs as possible to become "Bobo".
Of course, we are working alongside all players in the e-commerce ecosystem who share this vision.