Jumia Food’s shutdown left hundreds of drivers jobless, unable to withdraw earnings

Former gig drivers in Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda are still feeling the pinch after Jumia Food abruptly exited seven African markets.

Tolu Owoeye/Shutterstock

By KIMBERLY MUTANDIRO
4 APRIL 2024

Gig drivers told Rest of World that they received no official notice, and many found themselves locked out of the app.

Some are either struggling to find work or have been forced to take up odd jobs.

On December 12, James Murimbi heard a rumor about Jumia Foods exiting Kenya from a group of fellow food delivery workers. But he brushed the news aside and thought they were “bluffing.”

The next day, however, he was abruptly locked out of the food delivery app that he had been working for since June 2022. Murimbi spent the following two weeks trying to reach the company to retrieve the 4,500 shillings ($34.62) he made during his final week on the job. “To date, I have not received my money,” he told Rest of World. “That small amount would have helped to at least buy food. From the time the company closed, I am still struggling.”

In December 2023, Jumia, Africa’s largest e-commerce company, said it was discontinuing its food delivery business in seven African countries: Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Tunisia, and Uganda. The move left hundreds of gig workers stranded, and many, like Murimbi, did not even get a chance to withdraw their earnings from the platform. Three months on, many of them are still struggling to find a means to make money.

Several former Jumia Food workers in Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda told Rest of World that the company’s exit has left an oversupply of manpower, and they are being forced to take up odd jobs like working at construction sites and running market stalls.

“I am jobless right now, and my two years of working with the app went down the drain,” Robert, a former Jumia Food worker in Nairobi, told Rest of World, requesting to be identified only by his first name to avoid jeopardizing future job opportunities. He said he had no savings to sustain himself, as the gig at Jumia Food paid little. Robert added that he has applied for work at Glovo, but nothing has worked out because the platform is already congested with drivers.

Jumia did not respond to any requests for comment.

In December, Jumia said it was downsizing its food delivery business because it did not align with the company’s strategy, and the macroeconomic conditions in the seven markets were problematic. But just months before it shut shop, the company went to colleges in Lagos to woo students to work part-time on its platform, Johnson Emmanuel, a student at Livingstone College, told Rest of World.

Emmanuel joined the platform in November 2023 after being promised good earnings. Within a month, though, the app pulled out of the market. “Lots of us never got our final payment,” Emmanuel said. “Things were not easy for me during the first few months after the company closed down.” He managed to join Glovo in early March.

“I sweated and wasted all my energy and effort riding a bike for nothing.”

Several former Jumia Food workers said they were worst hit because the company did not give them any warning before shutting down.

Israel Oloba, another student in Lagos, said he had 35,000 naira ($26.12) on the app that he never received. “I sweated and wasted all my energy and effort riding a bike for nothing,” Oloba told Rest of World. Oloba now works with a local food delivery company called Chowdeck.

Uche Okafor, a former regional manager for Bolt, believes this incident demonstrates both the down- and upsides of gig work. “There is potential instability in the gig economy, where workers can face sudden job losses,” Okafor told Rest of World. “[But] while some drivers [in Nigeria] may experience temporary financial strain due to job changes, the booming food and package delivery startup scene offers them a wealth of new opportunities.”

Kenyan labor rights activist Angela Chukunzira said this could be an opportunity for African unions to push for regulation and better working conditions for gig workers. “This is an opportunity to re-create, re-define, and even modernize worker unions in the midst of increasing globalized labor relations,” she told Rest of World.

Kimberly Mutandiro is a Labor x Tech reporting fellow at Rest of World based in Johannesburg, South Africa.