Women and E-commerce in Africa
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Table of Contents
iv WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA Acronyms vi 3.6 E-commerce Increases the Performance of WO Businesses in High-Value Sectors 27 Table of Boxes, Figures, and Tables viii 3.7 The COVID-19 Pandemic Has Reversed Women’s Early Successes in E-Commerce 29 Acknowledgements x 3.8 WO Businesses Are More Likely to Be Foreword (IFC) xii Self-Financed and Less Likely to Leverage Platform Financing 30 Foreword (Jumia Group) xiii 3.9 WO Businesses are More Likely to Carry Insurance 33 Executive Summary 1 3.10 Women and Men Have Similar Experiences The Case for Gender Equality in E-commerce 5 in the Seller Journey 33 3.11 Women Entrepreneurs Are More Likely to Value 1. Introduction & Approach 7 Training and Business Support 34 1.1 Background 8 3.12 Women Are Less Likely to Use Value-added 1.2 Objectives of the Research 9 Services to Promote Their Products 36 1.3 Methodology 9 3.13 Both Men and Women Reported Improved Access to Markets 37 2. The E-commerce Context in Africa 13 3.14 Women Value Greater Flexibility and Ability 2.1 Global E-commerce 15 to Reach their Potential 37 2.2 E-commerce in Sub-Saharan Africa 15 2.3 E-commerce in the COVID-19 Context 17 4. The Business Case for Closing Gender Gaps 2.4 Women are More Likely to Continue Shopping in E-commerce 41 Online After the Pandemic 19 2.5 Barriers for Women in E-commerce 19 5. Recommendations for Growing Women’s Participation as E-commerce Sellers 45 2.6 Addressing Barriers to Close the Gender Gap 19 5.1 Conclusion 47 2.7 Opportunities for Women in e-commerce 21 5.2 Investors 48 3. E-commerce Entrepreneurs in Africa 23 5.3 Policymakers and Development Actors 48 3.1 About Jumia 25 3.2 Women are Active Participants in E-commerce 25 6. Appendix A – Methodology 51 3.3 WO Businesses are Slightly More Likely 6.1 Overview 52 to Operate Microenterprises 26 6.2 Quantitative data 53 3.4 Women are Somewhat More Likely 6.3 Weighting 53 to Leverage Social Commerce 26 6.4 Qualitative components 54 3.5 Women Join Jumia to Grow Existing Businesses; Men Join to Start New Businesses 27 7. References 55
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA v
Acronyms
BB BusinesstoBusiness BC BusinesstoConsumer COD Cash on Delivery FSD Financial Sector Deepening Kenya GSMA Global System for Mobile Communications Association GMV Gross Merchandise Value ICT Information Communications Technology IFC International Finance Corporation ILO International Labour Organization MO MenOwned business MSME Micro, Small, and Mediumsize Enterprises SME Small and Mediumsize Enterprises UNCTAD The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNFPA United Nations Population Fund WBG World Bank Group WO WomenOwned business
vi WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA vii
Table of Boxes, Figures, and Tables
viii WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA List of Boxes Figure 3.9 Pre-Pandemic Percentage of Total GMV Box 1.1 Digital2Equal 10 Sold by Gender and by Country, 2019 29 Box 1.2 Key Definitions 12 Figure 3.10 Share of Total GMV by Gender and Country, Before and During the Pandemic 30 Box 2.1 The COVID-19 Pandemic has Disproportionately Impacted Women Figure 3.11 Sources of Start-up Finance by Gender 31 MSME’s 18 Figure 3.12 Sources of Start-up Finance by Country 31 Box 3.1 JForce: Local Jumia Agents Help Place Figure 3.13 Sources of Finance After Start-up Orders on Behalf of Buyers 40 by Gender 32 Figure 3.14 Sources of Finance After Start-up by List of Figures Country 32 Figure 2. 1 Growth Rate of Online Shopping in Africa 15 Figure 3.15 Share of Insured by Country 33 Figure 2.2 Percent of Online Consumers Who Made Figure 3.16 Types of Insurance Coverage Held by an E-commerce Purchase Since the Start Business Owners 34 of the Pandemic 17 Figure 3.17 Steps in the Seller Journey Figure 2.3 Business Closure Statistics from African Figure 3.18 Average Diculty Scores Throughout Countries in the “COVID-19 Future the Seller Journey by Gender 35 of Business Survey” Administered on Facebook in Early June 2020 18 Figure 3.19 Usefulness of Jumia Services to Sellers in the Last 12 Months 35 Figure 2.4 Expectations for Online Shopping in the Future 19 Figure 3.20 Benefits of Doing Business on Jumia 36 Figure 3.1 Overview of Jumia Seller Life Cycle 25 Figure 3.21 Jumia’s Free and Paid Services 36 Figure 3.2 Women-Owned Firms as a Share of Figure 3.22 Agreement with the Statement “Jumia All Firms 25 has Helped Me Grow My Business” 37 Figure 3.3 Microenterprise Sellers by Country Figure 3.23 Perceived Impact of Selling Online and Gender 26 on Seller’s Life 38 Figure 3.4 Sellers Who Use Social Commerce Figure 4.1 Share of Total GMV Sold by Country Q2 Together with Jumia 26 and Q3 2020 43 Figure 3.5 Reasons Why Sellers Joined Jumia 27 List of Tables Figure 3.6 Share of Active Sellers in Each Merchandise Category 1Q2019 – 3Q2020 28 Table 2.1 Regional Values for the UNCTAD B2C E-commerce Index, 2020 16 Figure 3.7 Pre-Pandemic Gender Share of Total GMV by Merchandise Category 2019 28 Table 2.2 Gender Gaps in Digital Inclusion and 20 Figure 3.8 Share of GMV by Merchandise Category Labor Force Participation Before and During the Pandemic Table 4.1 Gains in Total GMV From Achieving (2Q-3Q 2019 and 2020) 29 Gender Parity 44
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA ix
Acknowledgements
x WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA This report was developed by the International Finance Rehermann, Joanna Romero, Oliver Rowntree, Matthew Corporation IFC as part of the DigitalEqual initiative. Saal, Aida Sykes, Carol Tojiero and Priyanka Verma. The Launched in ¶, DigitalEqual is an IFCled initiative report was copyedited by Ann Casanova and the layout that is carried out in partnership with the European design was done by Titanium Room. Communications Commission, and brings together · leading technology strategy for the report was led by Evangelia Tsiftsi with companies operating across the online marketplace to Bhattiprolou Murti, and Maria Teresa Gonzalez Garcia and boost opportunities for women in emerging markets. with support from the IFC global communication team and the Africa communication team. Additional financial support for this study was provided by the World Bank Group’s Umbrella Facility for Gender Research was conducted together with global consulting Equality UFGE, a multidonor trust fund administered by firm Kantar Public. Contributors at Kantar Public included the World Bank to advance gender equality and women’s Alexandra Cronberg, Susan Gigli, Nupur Kedia, Chenbi empowerment. Through experimentation and knowledge Liu, Shiyun Mai, Mark Matuma, Jordan Robinson, Samuel creation, UFGE helps governments and the private sector Schueth and Andrew Wiseman. Incountry support was to focus policy and programs on scalable solutions with provided by Oluwatosin Agbaje, Winnie Amollo, Oloo sustainable outcomes. The UFGE is supported by generous Habil, Mame Soukeye Mbaye, Frederick Ubanmhen and contributions from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Julia Wanderi. Germany, Iceland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, and IFC is grateful for the company data provided by Jumia the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. that informed this analysis. Jumia project coordination was led by Stanislas Barth, Pauline Bouteiller, Benjamin This project was conducted by the IFC Gender and De Fouchier, and Triin Visnapuu, with contributions from: Economic Inclusion Group under the overall guidance of Karine Assemien, Sefik Bagdadioglu, MarieFrance Girgis, Mary PorterPeschka and Henriette Kolb. The project was Tolutope GeorgeYanwah, Omolola Oladunjoye and led by Alexa Roscoe with Charlotte Ntim. The World Bank Christine Sogomo. Group technical working group included Meriem Ait Ali Slimane, Natalia Bhatia, Yasmin Klaudia bin Humam, Rachel The team would like to thank the many experts who Coleman, Rani Deshpande, Anna Domingo Riu, Sammar generously contributed their time and expertise including: Essmat, Alicia Hammond, Nathalie Ho¹man, Georges Nick Imudia from Konga, Fadima Kane from SPartners, Houngbonon, Shalaka Joshi, Anne Kabugi, Erin Kelley, I¹at Mahmud from OyaNow, Babatunde Obrimah from Heather Kipnis, Amy Luinstra, Angela Lumanau, Xubei Luo, Fintech Association of Nigeria, and Duncan Oyaro from Komal Mohindra, Ciku Mugambi, Qursum Qasim, Thomas FSD Kenya.
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA xi
Foreword Foreword
Ecommerce in Africa is thriving. The number of online shoppers across the continent has increased by an average of ¶ percent every year since , with similar growth anticipated Ecommerceover the next in decade. Africa is In thriving. this research, The number IFC shows of online that this shoppers growth across could thebe even continent higher has if we increasedinvest in by women an average entrepreneurs of percent on ecommerce every year since platforms. , with similar growth anticipated over the next decade. In this research, IFC shows that this growth could be even higher if we The report Women and Ecommerce in Africa was developed in partnership with the European invest in women entrepreneurs on ecommerce platforms. Commission, with funding from the Umbrella Fund for Gender Equality, and with data from one Theof report Africa’s Women largest and platforms, Ecommerce Jumia. in It Africa is the wasfirst developed in the region in partnership to show the with extent the Europeanof women’s Commission,participation with in fundingecommerce from theand Umbrella how online Fund platforms for Gender can Equality, benefit andwomen with business data from owners. one of OneAfrica’s of its largest key findings platforms, is that Jumia. if the It gapis the in firstsales in between the region female to show and malethe extent vendors of women’swas closed, participationover US.» in ecommercebillion could beand added how toonline the valueplatforms of the can African benefit ecommerce women business market owners. between One» of its and key findings a gain is that that if wouldthe gap continue in sales betweento accumulate female in and future male decades. vendors In was other closed, words, for every year that gender gaps go unaddressed, just under US billion in market value is lost. over US. billion could be added to the value of the African ecommerce market between How and do we get a there?gain that Women would entrepreneurs continue to accumulate are already in active future participants decades. In in other ecommerce. words, forOn every the year Jumia that platform, gender gaps just go over unaddressed, a third of just businesses under US in Côtebillion d’Ivoire in market and value over is halflost. of businesses in Kenya and Nigeria are owned by women. This itself is noteworthy, indicating How do we get there? Women entrepreneurs are already active participants in ecommerce. that ecommerce is supporting women’s entry to and success in the digital economy as well as On the Jumia platform, just over a third of businesses in Côte d’Ivoire and over half of helping womenowned businesses compete in sectors like electronics, where they are typically businesses in Kenya and Nigeria are owned by women. This itself is noteworthy, indicating underrepresented. that ecommerce is supporting women’s entry to and success in the digital economy as well as helpingHowever, womenowned widespread businesses di¹erences compete between in men sectors and like women electronics, in digital where and they financial are typically inclusion underrepresented.continue to hold back women entrepreneurs. The COVID¾ pandemic has also hit hard. In the first year of the pandemic, womenowned businesses faced a drop of ¾ percent in sales, However, widespread dierences between men and women in digital and financial inclusion compared to a ¶ percent drop for menowned businesses. continue to hold back women entrepreneurs. The COVID pandemic has also hit hard. In theEcommerce first year of firmsthe pandemic, are wellpositioned womenowned to reverse businesses this trend faced and a drop to set of women percent entrepreneurs in sales, comparedup for success to a in percent an industry drop forthat menowned will increasingly businesses. define business in the region and around the world. They can do this by targeting womenowned businesses for training, by increasing Ecommerce firms are wellpositioned to reverse this trend and to set women entrepreneurs women’s participation in highvalue segments such as electronics, and by encouraging better up for success in an industry that will increasingly define business in the region and around the uptake of emerging fintech o¹erings, which women currently use at a much lower rate than world. They can do this by targeting womenowned businesses for training, by increasing women’s men. participation in highvalue segments such as electronics, and by encouraging better uptake of emergingThere isfintech little oerings, doubt that which the women ability tocurrently compete use onlineat a much will lower increasingly rate than define men. whether a company succeeds or fails a trend which has only been accelerated by the global COVID¾ Therepandemic. is little Ensuring doubt that that thewomen ability are to wellplaced compete online to compete will increasingly online will definenot only whether strengthen a companybusinesses succeeds but also or failsdrive development.a trend which I hashope only this been datadriven accelerated research by the inspires global COVIDecommerce pandemic.platforms Ensuring and companies that women across are the wellplaced tech sector to to compete invest in onlinewomen will and not to only grow strengthen an inclusive businessesdigital economy. but also drive development. I hope this datadriven research inspires ecommerce platforms and companies across the tech sector to invest in women and to grow an inclusive digital economy.
Stephanie von Friedeburg
SeniorStephanie Vice President, von Friedeburg Operations, IFC Senior Vice President, Operations, IFC
xii WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA xii WOMEN IN E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA
Foreword
We started Jumia with the belief that technology has the potential to transform everyday life in Africa. We built an integrated marketplace, logistics, and payment platform to help consumers access millions of goods and services, conveniently and at the best prices, while opening up a new way for thousands of sellers to reach consumers and grow their businesses.
Our belief in the importance of our mission has been strengthened by eight years of operations and the COVID¾ pandemic. The COVID¾ crisis made it clear that ecommerce is not just a convenience, but an essential utility for the new world in which we now live, where health and safety underpin everyday life decisions, including how we acquire goods.
In this new reality, there is a pressing need to ensure that women are not left behind and that they have the resources, access, and tools they need to thrive. This is not only an economic imperative for women but also one that is necessary to ensure a stable and sustainable future for . billion Africans.
Across the countries where we operate, women sellers have adopted ecommerce and are a strong force to be reckoned with. For example, in Nigeria and Kenya, women sellers make up » percent of our seller base. Given this background, we have continued to support women and promote gender equality. Through our partnerships, training, and capacity building programs, we have enabled female entrepreneurs to reach a wider market.
Three years ago, we commenced our partnership with IFC through the DigitalEqual initiative. As a result, we have taken further steps to encourage female participation by: making commitments to promote gender equality on our platforms; participating in learning events with IFC and partners, including the International Labour Organization and the United Nations, to put gender goals into practice; and working together to publish new research on how to close gender gaps.
To date, a great deal has been achieved but there is much more to be done. The research presented in this report clearly points out that closing the gap in participation between men and women entrepreneurs has tremendous benefits for the African economy. Our involvement in this research has helped us to identify opportunities for women to close this gap on our platform. For instance, we now have concrete arrowheads to encourage women to participate in training, compete in high value segments, and embrace fintech o¹erings.
Ecommerce platforms and other players in the digital economy will find these research findings highly compelling. There is also a clear message for policy makers in Africa to recognize ecommerce platforms as critical partners to collaborate in the quest for inclusive growth and achieving gender equality.
Juliet Anammah Chairwoman, Jumia Nigeria and Head of Institutional A¹airs, Jumia Group
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA xiii If women’s sales could reach parity with men by 2025, the e-commerce sector could add nearly $15 billion to the African market by 2030.
1 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA
Executive Summary
The rapid digital transformation underway in Africa has participation or their success on ecommerce platforms. the potential to have an equally transformative impact on This report seeks to address this knowledge gap with women entrepreneurs. Although Africa boasts a higher the first largescale, sexdisaggregated analysis of incidence of women entrepreneurs compared to men, ecommerce sellers in Africa and to shed light on the womenowned WO businesses across the continent following key questions: tend to be smaller, have lower average sales, and have fewer employees World Bank ¾. . How are women entrepreneurs participating and performing in ecommerce? The exponential growth of ecommerce in Africa presents an opportunity to close gender gaps by opening more . What are the opportunities and challenges for markets to WO enterprises. Between and , the women entrepreneurs selling on ecommerce number of online shoppers in the region grew annually by platforms? an average of ¶ percent, compared to the global average . Is there a business case for ecommerce of percent Davarpanah . Similar trends could platforms to invest in women entrepreneurs? bring the value of the sector from billion in to ¶ billion by a milestone which may have already To answer these questions, the research team conducted in been accelerated by the high demand for online shopping depth interviews with sellers, as well as global and regional catalyzed by the COVID¾ pandemic Statista . ecommerce experts; undertook surveys of representative Yet, advances in disruptive technologies do not always samples of men and women sellers in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya translate into advances in gender equality, and to date, and Nigeria; and conducted an analysis of data from Jumia, there is limited research that has investigated women’s one of the region’s largest ecommerce platforms.
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 2 Findings and Recommendations: COVID¾ spread, WO businesses experienced a ·percentage point drop in sales, while MO This study found that by closing gender gaps by », businesses experienced a ·percentage point the ecommerce sector could add nearly » billion to rise in sales. Reversing this trend will be key the total value of the sector in Africa by , providing to ensuring women can compete in the digital a powerful business case for ecommerce companies. economy post pandemic. Achieving this growth will require, first, that more women start selling online and, second, that their sales perform as . What are the opportunities and challenges well as men. The points below highlight key findings on for women entrepreneurs selling on how women are currently engaging in digital commerce ecommerce platforms? and how to put women at the center of the ecommerce .. Women are leveraging ecommerce to sector in future. enter more profitable sectors where they have been historically underrepresented. . How are women entrepreneurs participating Women entrepreneurs currently dominate and performing in ecommerce? the fashion category; however, that segment .. WO and menowned ¡MO¢ businesses is characterized by highcompetition, low report di£erent motivations for turning di¹erentiation potential, and lower margins, to ecommerce. While men and women making this category challenging. However, are equally likely to report that Jumia helped there is evidence that women also use them grow their business, more men reported ecommerce to enter highervalue segments. joining an ecommerce platform to start a new The electronics category accounted for the business, while more women joined to grow an largest share of total sales on Jumia. While existing one. Additionally, women were more men typically sold more in the electronics likely to report “flexibility” and “supplementing category, the opposite was true where women existing income” as key benefits of selling outpaced men in this product segment. This online, suggesting that many women are using trend continued during the pandemic, although ecommerce to overcome barriers to labor force women’s average sales in the category decreased participation and earnings equality. more than those of men.
.. Women entrepreneurs are actively The World Bank found that sector switching participating in ecommerce but require is one key path for women to close earnings support to grow. On the Jumia platform, » gaps, suggesting that highearning categories percent of businesses in Côte d’Ivoire and » on ecommerce can boost performance for percent of businesses in Kenya and Nigeria women entrepreneurs in the longterm Alibhai, were owned by women. When comparing the Buehren and Papineni ». presence of formal business ownership between the Jumia platform and national statistics, WO .. Women cite greater access to markets businesses were better represented on the Jumia and greater flexibility as key benefits of platform in both Kenya and Nigeria. ecommerce. A large number of men and women agreed that selling on Jumia helped There are some similarities that translate from them grow their businesses. Thus, market access the broader economy into ecommerce. For is a key benefit of ecommerce for women, instance, WO businesses on the platform are who are more likely to face a smaller customer more likely to be microenterprises, whereas base o¿ine. In addition to the specific business most large businesses, including Jumia’s key support services o¹ered by Jumia, women were accounts, were owned by men. WO businesses more likely than men to value the intangible also tended to have lower revenues and fewer benefits of selling online, particularly as this employees than MO businesses. provides greater flexibility and more time with friends and family. .¤. COVID¥ has largely reversed the successes of WO firms. Comparing the second and third .¤. Women face financing gaps which platforms quarters of ¾ to the same period in , as are well positioned to address through
3 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA emerging fintech o£erings. WO businesses to reach ¶.» billion in . While women’s were more likely to have started with personal individual average sales currently lag behind savings and were less likely to have received a those of men in part due to the pandemic loan from a financial institution. After startup, if women’s gross merchandise value GMV only · percent of WO businesses received a loan reached parity with men by », this study via the Jumia platform, compared to percent estimates that nearly » billion of additional of MO businesses. Women requested smaller market value would accrue by . average loans and were more likely to have Thus, for every year in this period that gender their applications approved. This suggests that gaps remain unaddressed, the sector loses about targeted financing represents a key opportunity billion of potential value. Women’s success for ecommerce platforms to grow their seller in ecommerce prior to the pandemic suggests base, while also closing gender gaps. that reversing COVID¾ related drops in sales .¨. Women are less likely to invest in paid and bringing the GMV of WO and MO businesses promotion for their products. Men were to parity is an eminently achievable goal. percentage points more likely than women ¤.. Attracting more women customers is key to to take advantage of paid o¹erings such as ecommerce growth. While this study focused advertising. Additional support in marketing on ecommerce sellers, emerging evidence shows products and tracking the e¹ectiveness of sales that targeting women customers is also key to strategies could encourage more women to growth. New sexdisaggregated data shows that take advantage of such o¹erings and increase the pandemic led customers to shop more on their sales. Platforms can also support women ecommerce platforms and that women were in increasing uptake of product promotional more likely than men to have discovered a new services through timebound preferential rates online store where they will continue to shop or trial periods that could help women compete after the pandemic Kantar . online. ¤.¤. Platforms are wellpositioned to support .©. Women entrepreneurs are more likely to women entrepreneurs. From digital access to value training and business support. Men business skills, women entrepreneurs across the and women had similar responses on questions region face disproportionate barriers to success. about the ease of using of platform features, as This study highlights concrete opportunities well as success along the seller journey from for ecommerce companies to support WO registration to product delivery or returns. businesses. Selected actions include: However, when asked about which Jumia services they found most helpful in the last • Collect and tag sexdisaggregated data months, ¶ percent of women, versus percent on sellers to enable ongoing analysis of men, cited training. Similarly, percent and provide targeted support to WO of WO firms reported that Jumia helped their businesses; business to manage profit and loss, compared to • Ensure that women entrepreneurs are · percent of MO firms. Ecommerce platforms aware of, and can access, emerging fintech could support women entrepreneurs to increase o¹erings such as platformadministered their profitability by providing additional training loans, to address existing financing gaps; through their platforms. • Build on the early training success by ¤. What is the business case for supporting adding more content and expanding women entrepreneurs in ecommerce? outreach to WO businesses; and
¤.. Closing gender gaps in sales performance on • Incentivize women sellers to use paid ecommerce platforms by ª© could yield platform features, such as product nearly «© billion billion in platform revenues advertising, and to enter highvalue by ª¤ª. If the status quo continues, the value segments, to increase their competitiveness of the African ecommerce market is expected and success rates on the platform.
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 4 The Case for Gender Equality in Ecommerce
Ecommerce is helping women succeed in the IFC’s new research Women and digital economy. ecommerce in Africa shows that if women’s sales reached parity with men’s Women were more likely than men to the value of the African ecommerce market could increase by nearly Come to ecommerce to grow an existing business;
Benefit from platform «© sponsored financing; ¤ Value training and business support; and Billion ¨ Value flexibility and between ª©ª¤ª. additional time with friends and family. In other words, companies lose out on just under «¤ Billion for each year of delayed action on gender equality.
Where are we? Covid¥ Women are active participants in ecommerce, Disproportionately with the following levels of business ownership on the Jumia platform: Impacted Women ¤% ©% ©% °% Women vendors experienced a ·% drop Côte d’Ivoire Kenya Nigeria while men experienced a ·% rise in average GMV during the pandemic.
But women are more likely to: Own microenterprises Have fewer employees Have lower individual sales
Ecommerce platforms can provide Reversing this trend will be key to ensuring the support needed to help women women can compete in the digital economy entrepreneurs grow and thrive. following the pandemic.
5 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA How do we get to gender parity in ecommerce?
Targeting women owned businesses requires understanding which sectors women operate in and the . Leverage platform . Collect sex barriers they face. Sex financing disaggregated disaggregated data can data help platforms better Women are less likely to understand women apply for financing through sellers and inform ecommerce platforms and opportunities to enhance other emerging fintech platform features and options. Just ·% of women services that can help received a loan via Jumia, them succeed. compared to % of men, despite their higher likelihood of being approved.
©. Encourage entry into highvalue sectors
Women performed well in segments like electronics where they are often underrepresented in o¿ine stores, suggesting ecommerce can help ¤. Educate women on lower barriers to entry in highvalue paid promotions sectors. Currently, men are percentage points more likely than women to take advantage of paid o¹erings ¨. Boost training such as advertisements, which o£erings could help boost sales.
When asked about Jumia services that they found most helpful in the last months, ¶% of women, versus % of men, not only cited training, but indicated higher demand for future o¹erings.
Boosting women’s success on ecommerce will require providing additional training, expanded financing options and support their entry into higher value sectors.
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 6 7 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA . Introduction and Approach
. Background
An increasing body of evidence shows that advances in disruptive technology do not automatically translate into advances in gender equality. Women still face large gaps in access to the internet and mobile phones, which limits their ability to work in techenabled jobs or to compete as entrepreneurs. At the same time, when women do leverage technology, these tools can often serve as catalysts to overcoming longstanding gender gaps. Understanding how women are, or are not, currently using disruptive technologies is essential for them to become equal participants in an increasingly digitalized economy.
Photo UN Women/Daniel Donald
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 8 One part of the digital economy which has yet to be .¤ Methodology suciently analyzed is ecommerce a sector that was globally valued at  trillion in ¶ and which is poised This study used a mix of quantitative and qualitative for continued growth, particularly in emerging economies research methodologies to provide insights into how UNCTAD ¶. Ecommerce may represent an women and menowned businesses engage in opportunity for women entrepreneurs to expand access ecommerce in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, and Nigeria. This report to markets and enter maledominated sectors; however, it is unclear to what extent women are held back by leverages data and insights from sellers on Jumia, Africa’s existing gender gaps in digital and financial inclusion. In largest ecommerce platform. The company has a presence Africa, where ecommerce is evolving rapidly but remains in countries and represents nearly · percent of Africa’s nascent compared to other regions, supporting the ability internet users. Jumia has three major business lines: of WO businesses to actively compete in the sector will a marketplace, which connects sellers with consumers, set the stage for women to realize the full benefits of this a payment service, which facilitates digital and cash burgeoning market opportunity. Statista . transactions, and a logistics service, which enables the . Objectives of the Research delivery of packages from sellers to consumers.
While a robust body of evidence demonstrates how Key research components include: supporting gender equality can drive economic development, this study uniquely contributes to the • A sexdisaggregated mapping of ecommerce knowledge base of women in ecommerce in Africa. platform sellers; IFC sought a deeper understanding on how to boost opportunities for women in emerging markets and wanted • A representative survey of WO and MO businesses to help close the knowledge gap on women in ecommerce covering motivations, pathways and barriers to by shedding light on the following key questions: success in ecommerce;
. How are women entrepreneurs participating and • Jumia platform data covering seller characteristics performing in ecommerce? such as category, sales performance, and use of . What are the opportunities and challenges for platform tools and services; and women entrepreneurs selling on ecommerce platforms? • Indepth interviews with experts on ecommerce in each country and with the leaders of WO . Is there a business case for ecommerce platforms businesses on the Jumia platform. to invest in women entrepreneurs?
This report also provides concrete recommendations to The data used in this report encompasses seller data ecommerce companies on how they can reap the benefits prior to and during the global COVID¾ pandemic. Data of a more inclusive seller base as they scale regionally and from the Jumia platform covers the first quarter of ¾ globally, as well as to development actors seeking to create through the third quarter of . The seller surveys were a positive impact for women entrepreneurs in Africa and conducted from May to September . Portions of the beyond. This study focuses on three African countries: Côte analysis, particularly seller and platform sales information d’Ivoire, Kenya, and Nigeria. includes commercially sensitive data that cannot be This study was undertaken as part of DigitalEqual, an published in absolute values; therefore, the research IFCled initiative launched in ¶ in partnership with presents di¹erences in sales between MO and WO business the European Commission that brought together · and similar figures as percentages of total GMV. Together, leading technology companies operating across the these methods capture the experiences of female and male online marketplace to boost opportunities for women in emerging markets Box .. Additional funding was ecommerce entrepreneurs and highlight the business case provided by the Umbrella Fund for Gender Equality. for ecommerce companies to take specific actions to help The research uses data from ecommerce platform and WO businesses thrive on their platforms. The methodology DigitalEqual member, Jumia Group. is described in greater detail in Appendix A.
9 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA Box . DigitalEqual
In partnership with the European Commission, IFC launched the DigitalEqual initiative to use the power of evolving technologies and business to create opportunities for all. DigitalEqual brings together leading technology companies operating across the online marketplace, each of whom have made timebound commitments to addressing gender gaps on their platforms. In addition, IFC collaborated with select members to conduct research, including this report, to better understand the impacts of disruptive technology on women. The Umbrella Fund for Gender Equality UFGE also contributed funding to this report.
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 10 11 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA Box . Key Definitions
Average order value: The average total of every order placed with a merchant over a defined period of time. ecommerce: The act of electronically buying or selling products using an online marketplace platform service provider.
Female participation in ownership: The share of female owners of limited liability companies registered in the last four years, as a proportion of the total number of company owners in the economy, in the calendar year.
Financial inclusion: The share of individuals and firms that use financial services.
Fintech: Technologyenabled innovations in financial services that could result in new business models, applications, processes, or products with an associated material e¹ect on the provision of financial services.
Gross merchandise value ¡GMV¢: The total monetary value of sales conducted over a marketplace or platform over a specified timeframe.
Microenterprise: A firm with less than ten employees and annual sales of under ,.
Micro, small, and mediumsize enterprises ¡MSMEs¢: A firm with less than ten employees and annual sales of under , is considered a microenterprise. A firm with between and ¾ employees and with sales between , and million is considered a small business. A firm with between » and employees and sales between million and » million is considered a mediumsized enterprise IFC .
Platform: A business that creates value by facilitating exchange between two or more participants. Marketplace platforms typically do not make or own the goods and services being exchanged Fernandez Vidal .
Product sponsorship: A paid promotional advertising features that highlights products to customers.
Small and medium enterprises ¡SMEs¢: See Micro, small and medium size enterprises.
Social commerce: The activity of buying or selling products and services using social media channels such as Facebook or WhatsApp to communicate with customers.
Super performer: A firm whose performance as measured in sales, far exceeds that of comparable firms.
Womanoperated business: A firm is counted as womanoperated if any of the following conditions apply: one or more women own between and » percent of shares in the firm and one or more women participates in business decisions.
Womanowned business: A firm is counted as womanowned if any of the following conditions apply:
one or more women own at least » percent of shares in the firm, or at least percent of shares in the firm are owned by a woman or women, and one or more women hold the positions of Chief Executive Ocer, Chief Operating Ocer, President, or Vice President; or
at least percent of shares are owned by a woman or women, and at least percent of the board of directors is composed of women, where a board exists.
All entities that do not meet this definition are considered MO businesses.
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 12 “Among the many digital technologies with relevance for development, e-commerce stands out because of its potential to overcome market barriers and connect consumers and businesses, even when traditional commercial and market transactions are relatively limited.” (World Bank 2019)
13 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA . The Ecommerce Context in Africa
The rapid expansion of ecommerce over the last two decades has made it a defining feature of the modern economy and a powerful engine for economic development. Ecommerce growth in Africa has consistently been » percent above global averages, and this trend is anticipated to continue over the next decade, despite challenges related to transportation, logistics, epayments, and connectivity.
Women entrepreneurs need to embrace the ecommerce opportunity to thrive in markets that are increasingly defined by the digital economy; however, WO businesses come to the sector with substantial disadvantages, including gaps in connectivity and a lack of access to finance. These disadvantages have deepened due to the COVID¾ pandemic. This section explores the current state of ecommerce and women’s economic participation in the sector in Africa.
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 14 Global Ecommerce “The African Internet economy is one of the In ¶, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNCTAD valued total global ecommerce largest overlooked investment opportunities at nearly  trillion UNCTAD ¶. Thus, ecommerce is a powerful driver of economic development that can of the past decade with potential for have a catalytic e¹ect well beyond its immediate users. profound impact on development.” • For sellers, ecommerce o¹ers access to new markets, particularly for small businesses with a eConomy Africa IFC, Google limited geographic footprint, and it encourages business to support the adoption of digital technologies van Weslum Â. Figure . Growth Rate of Online Shopping in Africa • For consumers, ecommerce provides access to a wider marketplace, often marked by greater value, choice, and convenience. In , ¶% • For markets, ecommerce can drive employment African ecommerce market size was estimated as an indirect result of business growth in sellers Increased African to be «ª billion and related services, such as logistics. online shoppers The World Bank found that, “Among the many digital per annum technologies with relevance for development, ecommerce stands out because of its potential to overcome market ¨% barriers and connect consumers and businesses even Increase when traditional commercial and market transactions are since ¾ Global average relatively limited” Luo, Wang and Zhang ¾. One striking is % example of the largescale potential of ecommerce comes from China, where “Taobao Villages,” communities driven by selling on the ecommerce platform of the same name growth rate of ».» percent. If growth was to continue experienced increased employment, lower migration, at the same rate through , the total market size in greater firm productivity, and higher infrastructure Africa will reach ¶ billion Statista . development Luo, Wang and Zhang ¾. This shift is a part of a broader economic transformation . Ecommerce in SubSaharan led by the continent’s young and rapidly urbanizing and Africa digitalizing population. Further, in a joint study, IFC and Google estimated that the African Internet economy In recent years, ecommerce in Africa has experienced could add ¶ billion to African GDP by » IFC, exceptional growth, driven by platforms such as Jumia, Google . Overall, “the African Internet economy is which is the largest, as well as Checkers SixtyÂ, Kilimall, one of the largest overlooked investment opportunities Konga and Takealot, among others. The number of online of the past decade with potential for profound impact shoppers in Africa has increased by ¶ percent annually on development…driven by the talent of young digital since , compared to the global average of percent entrepreneurs” IFC, Google . UNCTAD ¶ Figure .. Early predictions put an estimated market size of regional ecommerce at Despite high growth rates, the sector remains nascent in approximately billion, a percent increase since Africa, largely because of substantial marketwide barriers ¾ Statista though final figures were likely to growth. UNCTAD’s BusinesstoConsumer BC impacted by the COVID¾ pandemic. Ecommerce Index ranks Africa the lowest among world regions in terms of ecommerce readiness, with an overall Sector estimates anticipate similar growth trajectories. For score of , compared to other regions which scored index instance, Statista predicts that between and », values of between ¾ and »¶ UNCTAD Table .. African ecommerce will increase at a compound annual While conditions vary substantially between markets,
This figure refers to the value of businesstobusiness BB and businesstoconsumer BC sales on ecommerce.
15 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA Table . Regional Values for the UNCTAD BC Ecommerce Index, ªª
% 93% ¶·% 88% 86%
¾% 93% 80%
¶% 77% 71% Â% 64%
·% 62% 60% Â% 60% Â% 59% »¾% 58% »¶% 58% 58% 58% 57% 57% »»% »»% 54%
Â% »% 53% 50% 50% 49% ¶% ·% »% 45% 40% % % 30% 30% 29% 28% % 21% %
% % Share of Share of Secure UPU postal index ¾ index individuals individuals internet reliability value value using the with an servers score ¶ data internet account normalized, ¾ or ¾ or »+, · ¾ lastes lastest
Africa Latin America and the Caribbean Tradition economies East, South and Southeast Asia Western Asia Developed economies Wolrd Source: UNCTAD ecommerce readiness is commonly stymied by several product returns. The prevalence of COD factors, including: payments also reflects that »· percent of the adult population is unbanked or underserved by • Connectivity: Only ¶ percent of Africans used financial institutions N. Goldstein ¾. the internet in ITU . However, over However, increased mobile connectivity and the next five years, the Global System for Mobile mobile money products are providing users with Communications Association GSMA estimates new opportunities to meet their financial needs that mobile Internet users in Africa will grow by by linking them to bank services without the need percent annually GSMA . for physical access to limited branch networks • Transportation and Logistics: The lack of IFC, Google . This presents a substantial universal address systems, in addition to poor opportunity for the development of safe and transportation and communication networks, convenient digital payment and fintech solutions. complicate lastmile delivery in many markets • Legal Frameworks: Only six percent of countries Wawira ¾. This creates a major barrier to in Africa have adequate online consumer protection entry for ecommerce players. laws UNCTAD . • Payments: Orders in the region are Collectively, these challenges increase complexity and overwhelmingly settled using cash on delivery reduce consumer trust in online commerce which COD. This has implications for payment drives up operational costs to build and sustain the eciencies, poses security issues and complicates ecommerce market.
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 16 “The current public health situation has elevated the importance of ecommerce. Entrepreneurs are seeing greater consumer demand for ecommerce, but quite a few challenges remain. One of the biggest .¤ Ecommerce in the COVID¥ barriers is adoption of digital payment Context mechanisms, which tends to be held back by The COVID¾ pandemic is rapidly altering the face of the regulatory environment, and consumers global ecommerce. In the first months of the pandemic, consumer spending dropped in the response to national who are unfamiliar with online payments.” lockdowns and shifted to more essential categories such as groceries and food delivery. Lockdowns also negatively Komal Mohindra a¹ected supply and logistics dynamics. Senior Private Sector Specialist While the pandemic’s impacts on overall consumer patterns are still emerging, there is some evidence that World Bank it will lead to an increase in the use of ecommerce platforms. In August , the Kantar’s COVID Barometer Survey found that over ¶ percent of women made an ecommerce purchase since the start of the pandemic, with an intention to continue shopping online.
For brands and retailers, the ongoing pandemic also established ecommerce as an essential route to market, serving as a catalyst for innovation in gotomarket strategies and operating procedures to overcome physical challenges. For example, in Côte d’Ivoire, Jumia partnered with food retailer Carrefour, to allow customers to order food deliveries during the governmentmandated lockdown. In Nigeria, Jumia provided identification cards to its sellers to prove their status as essential workers to authorities, allowing for continued delivery of goods to customers during the lockdown.
When it came to navigating the pandemic’s supply chain constraints, sellers with strong local connections were able to adapt more easily, compared with sellers that had a high reliance on imported merchandise.
Figure . Percent of Online Consumers Who Made an Ecommerce Purchase Since the Start of the Pandemic
¶· ¶· ¶» ¶
Kenya Nigeria
Male Female
Source: Kantar
Data was collected from Kantar Public’s online consumer panels database, which provide insights on consumers and shoppers across a variety of sectors. 17 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA The sample size consisted of » men and women from Kenya and Nigeria. Box . The COVID¥ Pandemic Has Disproportionately Impacted Women MSME’s
While the ecommerce sector has been somewhat insulated from the devastating impacts of COVID¾, the pandemic’s impact on micro, small and medium sized enterprises MSMEs has not been uniform Goldstein, Gonzalez Martinez, et al. . A World Bank / Facebook “Data for Good” survey of global business owners with active Facebook business pages showed disproportionate impacts of the COVID¾ pandemic on female entrepreneurs. In that study, which included samples from four SubSaharan African countries, percent of WO firms were temporarily closed at the time of the survey, compared to percent of MO firms World Bank, Facebook . However, there were substantial variations across countries. In Kenya, there was no gender gap, while in Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa the gap ranged from  to  percentage points Figure ..
An IFC survey echoes these results, also finding that WO MSME’s in SubSaharan Africa faced operational cost increases and supply chain challenges at greater rates than menowned MSMEs. They also experienced diculty securing new orders and inputs, particularly in the trade, hospitality, Information Communication Technology ICT, and the construction sectors IFC .
WO firms went into the pandemic less prepared to withstand shocks. Before COVID¾, WO firms in emerging markets already accounted for an outsized share of the finance gap of about .¶ trillion, which is more than a third of the overall SME finance gap of .» trillion SME Finance Forum ¶. On average, WO firms operate with smaller and lessdiverse networks than men and have less access to information Kipnis, ·.
According to interviews conducted by IFC’s Banking on Women program during the pandemic, female entrepreneurs have been in financial distress and have not been able to service their bank loans. They have not received proper support from their banks on loan restructuring and as a result, women business owners have had to tap into their networks to borrow from family and friends to pay employee salaries. These factors are exacerbated by factors such as school and care center shutdowns, resulting in greater care responsibilities and less time to devote to their business World Bank Africa Gender Innovation Lab , IFC . Additionally, the pandemic has increased women’s vulnerability to intimate partner violence and rising levels of ofgenderbased violence online UNFPA, UN Women, ILO, Quilt.AI . As WO and womenled firms tend to employ more women, closures and the resulting job losses could have a ripple e¹ect and exacerbate gender inequality Kipnis and Rana, . For instance, a global WeConnect survey in the second quarter of found that percent of entrepreneurs were able to shift to digital models to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic WEConnect International Section .·. E¹orts to safeguard opportunities for women entrepreneurs in ecommerce will be an important part of the COVID¾ response and recovery.
Figure . Business Closure Statistics from African Countries in the “COVID¾ Future of Business Survey” Administered on Facebook in Early June »% »% % »% ¶% ¶% % ·% Â% % »% % *** % *** ** »% % »% % not currently operational Percentage of busniesses »% % Ghana Kenya Nigeria South Africa
Female Business Closure Rate Data: Facebook Future of Business COVID¾ high frequency survey wave concluding on nd June . Sample is among Facebook enterprise owners and managers that use the Pages feature on Facebook for their business. Male Business Closure Rate Total global sample of Â,¾¶ businesses ¾,» male and ·,»¾ female businesses from about » countries. The sampling was designed to be representative of the Facebook business page administrator population and not of any country’s business population. Only African countries with a large sample size are shown ttest*** significant Source: World Bank di¹erence at % level; ** significant di¹erence at »% level. WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 18 .¨ Women are More Likely to Continue Shopping Online After Women buyers represent an increasingly the Pandemic important target market. Understanding When looking at demand, evidence suggests that the increase in ecommerce activity brought about by the their needs and preferences will be crucial to COVID¾ pandemic will continue into the future. Among those people shopping online, most expected to continue growing ecommerce in Africa. to patronize online stores after the pandemic Yendamuri, Keswakaroon and Lim . While women shopped online during the pandemic at a slightly lower rate than men in both Kenya and Nigeria Figure ., those women who women owned a bank account, used mobile money, and did shop online were more likely to have discovered a new used the Internet. In Nigeria, only about a quarter of online store where they expect to continue shopping at women owned a bank account and used the Internet; after the pandemic Figure .. This finding suggests that however, only percent of women used mobile women represent an increasingly important target market money. Mobile money usage was low in Nigeria for and that understanding their needs and preferences will be both men and women at less than · percent for both. crucial to growing ecommerce in Africa. .· Addressing Barriers to Close the Figure . Expectations for Online Shopping in the Future Gender Gap ·  »Â  Women entrepreneurs face a range of barriers which impact their ability to e¹ectively participate in ecommerce. For instance, enabling environment issues such as legal constraints, lack of access to finance, and digital connectivity are hurdles that need to be addressed. Closing these gender gaps will improve women’s ability to Kenya Nigeria enter into, compete, and thrive in the sector.
Male • Legal Constraints: The World Bank Women, Female Business and the Law Index notes that worldwide, Source: Kantar discriminatory laws continue to threaten the economic wellbeing of women entrepreneurs and their ability to compete on an equal basis with .© Barriers for Women in men. For instance, women are not protected from Ecommerce discrimination in access to credit in any of the three countries World Bank . This could impede The World Bank found that gender inequality cost the the ability of women sellers to secure financing SubSaharan Africa region .» trillion of its total human necessary to purchase additional inventory to sell capital wealth in Wodon, et al. . In all three countries studied, women were less likely than men to online and grow their businesses. participate in the labor force, or to leverage key assets • Access to Finance: Globally, WO small businesses for participation in the digital economy such as digital lack access to finance. In ·, an estimated finance or internet access Table .. For instance, about percent of SMEs and percent of microenterprises » percent of Ivorian and Nigerian women participated had unmet financing needs Bruhn, et al. ·. in the labor force, whereas · percent of Kenyan women These gaps extend to digital finance tools and participated in the labor force. services, which are often necessary to compete In terms of financial inclusion and internet use, ·¶ percent online. Globally, women were less likely than men to of Kenyan women owned a bank account and ¾ percent have a financial account or to use online banking and used mobile money, but only percent of women instead relied on cashondelivery sales, which limits used the internet. In Côte d’Ivoire, about one third of their customer base World Economic Forum ¾.
19 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA Table . Gender Gaps in Digital Inclusion and Labor Force Participation
Côte d’Ivoire Kenya Nigeria
Key economic Population: 25.8 million (2019) Population: 52.5 million (2019) Population: 206 million (2020) indicators GDP: $58.58 billion (2019) GDP: $95.5 billion (2019) GDP: $448 billion (2019) GDP growth: 7.4% GDP growth: 6.3% GDP growth: 1.9% GNI per capita: $1,600 GNI per capita: $1,620 GNI per capita: $1,960 Labor force participation rate: Labor force participation rate: Labor force participation rate: Women: 48.3% Women: 72.3% Women: 47.6% Men: 65.4% Men: 77.5% Men: 57.8%
Access to finance Own a bank account (2019) Own a bank account (2019) Own a bank account (2019) Women: 36% Women: 78% Women: 27% Men: 47% Men: 86% Men: 51%
Digital finance Mobile money use (2017) Mobile money use (2017) Mobile money use (2017) Women: 30% Women: 69% Women: 4% Men: 38% Men: 78% Men: 7% Made or received Made or received Made or received a digital payment: a digital payment: a digital payment: Women: 30% Women: 73% Women: 17% Men: 40% Men: 80% Men: 31%
Individuals using the Individuals using the internet Individuals using the internet Individuals using the internet Internet ¾ ¾ ¾ Women: % Women: % Women: »% Men % Men % Men %
Sources: World Bank databases, International Telecommunications Union, Gallup World Poll indicators
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 20 In general, financial intermediation is low in Africa. In of professionals in Africa’s tech sector UNDP Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria only about a third of women ¾ despite an overall labor participation rate and about half of men had access to bank accounts, of  percent World Bank ¾. but in Kenya about ·¶ percent of women and ¶Â As a result of these constraints, there are fewer WO or percent of men had bank accounts. Even fewer had womenled business than MO businesses in Africa. Once access to mobile money. Thus, while the COVID¾ these are addressed on a large scale, women will have pandemic reinforced the need for online sellers to more opportunities in the sector. use digital and cashless payments to comply with socialdistancing protocols to curb the spread of the .° Opportunities for Women in virus, there is a need for increased uptake. Ecommerce
• Digital Connectivity: Globally, women were  Ecommerce represents an opportunity for women percent less likely than men to have a smartphone, entrepreneurs to increase productivity and enter higher which limits their access to the internet and makes earning sectors, helping them to overcome many of them feel uneasy using it OECD ¶. Across Sub the challenges outlined above. There is still much room Saharan Africa, the World Wide Web Foundation for growth, particularly since the sector is nascent estimated that the gender gap in internet usage relative to other regions and African retail remains was percent Iglesias . While ecommerce largely underdeveloped Dupoux, et al. ¾. Thus, key may represent an easier avenue for women to opportunities for women include: enter the labor force, barriers to access such • Low Penetration of African Retail: The high as a¹ordability and comfort levels using digital cost of building shopping centers and the limited technologies present a significant obstacle to their purchasing power of buyers has translated into inclusion on ecommerce platforms. a continent that has few formal retail outlets. • Logistics: From sourcing to final sales, logistics For every one million people, there are less than constraints pose significant barriers for all » formal brick and mortar stores Dupoux, et entrepreneurs in Africa’s retail sector and add an al. ¾. This low penetration rate presents an estimated percent to final costs Dupoux, et opportunity for ecommerce to fill critical gaps in al. ¾. While ecommerce platforms across consumer access and convenience. Since women the continent are investing heavily to address frequently have less access to capital than men, logistics bottlenecks, evidence shows that women ecommerce presents a way to circumvent cost have been disproportionately a¹ected, especially prohibitive overheads needed to own a physical following the supply chain disruptions created by store. This could facilitate easier entry into high the COVID¾ pandemic World Bank and World value sectors that have been traditionally male Trade Organization . dominated.
• Digital Skills: The tech sector tends to be • Increased Market Access: Ecommerce platforms are unique in that they provide instant dominated by male employees. Having more access to a wider universe of potential buyers women involved in the sector would contribute in a manner that is more ecient. A reliable to the development of products and services ecosystem of services that includes integrated that meet their needs. However, the World Bank marketing tools, payments capabilities, and found that women were less likely than men to logistics services allows sellers to scale faster and study STEMrelated fields, and when they do, reap a higher return on the level of e¹ort invested, the structure of such programs is not designed thereby increasing productivity. to accommodate people with childcare and household responsibilities Cho, et al. . Many ecommerce platforms provide services Consequently, women account for only percent that help women overcome gender barriers in
21 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA fields such as logistics and transportation, that are critical to order fulfillment and last mile delivery. This creates new opportunities for women entrepreneurs who would not otherwise have the financial and physical capacity to ensure that goods reach customers in a short time period. Thus, women stand to benefit the most from ecommerce platforms given a generally lower level of digital skills and a lower likelihood of independently utilizing such skills in business.
• Higher Levels of Flexibility: Selling via ecommerce allows women, who often carry a disproportionate level of care responsibilities, the flexibility to set their own work times and activities. Ecommerce allows women entrepreneurs the ability to work from home or on the go at any time.
“Over threequarters of the African population believes that entrepreneurs are admired in their societies.”
Global Entrepreneurship Research Association GERA .
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 22 “Most of the sellers on Jumia Kenya are women. I have spoken to a few of them and they tell me they initially lacked the capital for a storefront, so started by selling what they could in small quantities on the platform. With time they started making profit and realised that it was convenient for them. They were working from home and only making deliveries, so they had more time to look after their children. The seemingly elusive work/life balance increasingly seemed to be a reality. I think it’s empowering women more.”
Christine Sogomo, COO, Jumia Kenya
23 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA ¤. Ecommerce Entrepreneurs in Africa
Despite the potential to help women entrepreneurs contribute to African economic growth, women’s participation in ecommerce has remained largely unexplored. This section reviews key findings from expert interviews, surveys of representative samples of men and women sellers, and platform data from Jumia in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, and Nigeria. Jumia provided data on sales, as measured in GMV, for the first quarter of ¾ through the third quarter of , and thus the analysis covers the period leading up to and including the first few months of the COVID¾ pandemic. This provides both a longrange view of women’s engagement in the sector and insights into how women have been uniquely impacted by recent economic pressures.
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 24 Figure . WomenOwned Firms as a Share of All Firms
» » ¶
»
The survey sent to Jumia sellers included a series of questions used to identify the characteristics of each firm, including its size, number of years in operation, and whether it fit the definition of a WO business. In this  chapter the terms “men” and “women” describe the gender of ownership, rather than the gender of the respondent. Survey responses were combined with sexdisaggregated platform data from each respondent. ¤. About Jumia Côte d’Ivoire Kenya Nigeria Founded in Nigeria in , Jumia has a presence in Jumia African nations. By the end of it was serving Â.¶ million active consumers and had over , annual National Data, World Bank Enterprise Surveys sellers Jumia Group . ¤. Women are Active Participants Jumia is primarily a marketplace model where thirdparty in Ecommerce sellers sell their products to customers by leveraging Jumia’s platform. Selling on the Jumia platform gives The survey administered during the pandemic found entrepreneurs access to millions of consumers, tracking that in Nigeria and Kenya, » percent of businesses were for shipping and delivery, online payment transactions, owned by women, and a total of  and  percent and access to Jumia support services through the Jumia respectively, were women operated, meaning women seller center. Sellers also have access to Jumia University, had senior management roles or sat on boards of directors an educational platform which provides free training on Figure .. In the more recently established market of how to run a successful online business and how to be an Côte d’Ivoire, » percent of businesses on Jumia were exceptional seller Jumia University . owned by women and percent were women operated For entrepreneurs, the Jumia seller lifecycle begins when Figure .. prospective sellers register on the platform via the website or mobile application. Once the account is established, These findings are encouraging because in two of the new sellers complete an online training module and three countries surveyed, WO businesses were more activate their seller account. They can then create their widely represented on the Jumia platform than in national online store, sell products, process shipping, and receive statistics on formal business ownership Figure .. payment in their registered bank account. Figure . This suggests that women are increasingly looking to the
Figure . Overview of Jumia Seller Life Cycle Sell products
Vendor New Seller Create online Stock online Process signup Training store store shipping
Receive payment
Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, and Uganda.
Female participation in ownership was collected from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys for Kenya ¶, Nigeria , and Côte d’Ivoire Â.
25 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA digital economy as a pathway to grow their businesses, Facebook or WhatsApp, to sell products and communicate especially during the pandemic. A survey by WEConnect with customers. Women were somewhat more likely to International in April found that percent of report using social commerce and they were also more women business owners shifted to a digital business likely to sell on WhatsApp, whereas men were more likely model as a way of addressing the impacts of COVID¾ to sell on Facebook. In all three countries,  percent of WEConnect International . WO businesses reported selling on WhatsApp, compared to » percent of MO businesses, while » percent of WO ¤.¤ WO Businesses are Slightly businesses reported selling on Facebook, compared to More Likely to Operate »¶ percent of MO businesses Figure .. The portion Microenterprises who reported selling on Instagram was comparable for WO and MO businesses, at  percent and percent, Most WO businesses on Jumia were microenterprises and respectively Figure .. ranged from ¶ percent of WO businesses in Kenya, to ¾ » percent in Côte d’Ivoire, to ¾» percent in Nigeria. This was Figure . Sellers Who Use Social Commerce Together  slightly higher than MO business Figure .. In all three with Jumia countries, WO businesses on the Jumia platform tended to be smaller and have fewer employees than those owned by »¶% Â% »% men.· For instance, MO businesses averaged fulltime »% employees and » parttime employees, while WO businesses % Â% had an average of fulltime and parttime employees.
Figure . Microenterprise Sellers by Country and Gender ¾»% Facebook Instagram WhatsApp ¶¾% ¾% ¾% ¶% ¶% MO WO
The widespread use of social commerce complicates distinctions between ecommerce conducted via marketplace platforms such as Jumia, and “informal ecommerce” via social media platforms that do not typically process payments or handle delivery. A recent study on use of social commerce in Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire Kenya Nigeria found that while · percent of microenterprises used marketplace platforms like Jumia, over ¾ percent of MO them also relied on more personal social media tools WO such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to conduct business Mastercard Foundation and Caribou Digital ¤.¨ Women are Somewhat More . Together, these findings suggest the existence Likely to Leverage Social of an ecosystem where entrepreneurship is more tech Commerce enabled than explicitly techbased, by exploiting multiple channels for reaching customers and necessitating The majority of Jumia sellers combined ecommerce with some form of human interaction over the course of the social commerce, by using social media platforms such as ecommerce customer journey.
» Based on platform GMV data between fourth quarter ¾ and third quarter , as well as local MSME definitions for Côte d’Ivoire annual revenue less than CFA million about US»,», Kenya annual revenue less than KSH », about US,·, and Nigeria annual revenue less than NGN million about US»,Â.
 For both WO and MO businesses, the extent of this concentration also reflects platform dynamics. Since it is common for sellers to register multiple stores on the platform, often for the purpose of selling in di¹erent product categories. To mitigate overcounting of microenterprises the research team aggregated sales data associated with a specific vendor ID into a single unit for analysis but it is possible that the total portion of microenterprises may be overstated.
· In Kenya, GMV is higher among WO businesses, which may appear to contradict this finding. However, this di¹erence is driven by sales among a small number of large WO businesses in Kenya. WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 26 “Marketplace models have struggled to find success in Africa largely due to lower levels of digital literacy and sellers’ ability to promote their products online. But social commerce which uses platforms like Facebook and Since social platforms require less familiarity with tools such as business software, this ease of use may have WhatsApp to sell products is fast becoming a greater appeal to novice digital entrepreneurs who are just key marketplace model in Africa.” entering the market, hence social commerce may act as a gateway to the formal ecommerce platforms. Further research is needed to understand the extent to which Georges Vivien Houngbonon, Economist, IFC sales via social platforms prepare sellers to subsequently expand their channels to include platforms like Jumia.
Consistent anecdotal reports confirm this hypothesis. For Figure .» Reasons Why Sellers Joined Jumia instance, a woman vendor in Nigeria noted, “I used to sell on WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and Jiji. Now, I have »Â% ¶% up to ten stores on Jumia.” Interviews with sector experts ·% also confirmed this theory. Duncan Oyaro, an Innovations % and Enterprise Finance Specialist at Financial Sector Deepening FSD Kenya explained, “For entrepreneurs, social commerce platforms such as Facebook and Instagram have had a very big impact. Some started To start a To increase sales/ selling online as a side hustle and the side hustle grew new business profitability of to be their main source of income. I have come across existing business merchants whose sales have grown significantly, to the extent that they have to expand to physical locations, due MO to the adoption of such platforms.” WO Once sellers migrate to formal marketplace platforms, early evidence suggests that these channels may provide sellers with greater resilience to economic shocks, such ¤.· Ecommerce Increases the as the onset of the pandemic. A recent UNCTAD study Performance of WO Businesses of countries in Africa and Asia noted that »¶ percent in HighValue Sectors of businesses who conducted sales on a selfmanaged multichannel basis saw a drop in monthly revenue during Jumia sellers were found to be active in a range of product the pandemic, whereas thirdparty marketplaces like categories. When comparing the presence of women Jumia saw a collective  percent increase in sales Vitale sellers in each of the product categories and the value and Cyron . generated, some interesting results were identified.
¤.© Women Join Jumia to Grow Looking first at the presence of women by category, it can Existing Businesses; Men Join to be seen that women had more than » percent market Start New Businesses share in clothes and accessories Figure .Â. However, when looking at the value of those goods sold, women Respondents from women and menowned businesses generated significantly less value with percent of had di¹erent motivations for joining Jumia. While more MO firms reported joining Jumia to start a new business, GMV than men Figure .·. Conversely, when looking more WO firms joined to grow an existing business Figure at electronics, WO business accounted for » percent .». This finding may suggest that the digital economy is sellers but here they had the strongest performance attracting more experienced women entrepreneurs who of any category with ÂÂ percent of GMV. This reflects see the benefit of selling online and have already begun to the presence of a few female “super performers” in the overcome many of the gender gaps in digital and financial electronics category, particularly in Kenya, and their high literacy previously discussed. sales pushed up average GMV for all women.
27 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA Figure . Share of Active Sellers in Each Merchandise Category, Q¾ É Q
% % »Â% ¾% »% »%
% »Â% »Â% »% ¾% »%
Appliances & Beauty & Clothes & Electronics Household & Total weighted automotive perfume accessories other average
MO WO
Examining GMV data by product category and gender of women into more maledominated sectors, and vice shows that in ¾, prior to the COVID¾ pandemic, WO versa, blurring the lines between male and female businesses on Jumia had a higher average value of total dominated sectors. This early evidence is important sales than MO businesses in three of the five categories: because women have traditionally been underrepresented appliances and automotive, beauty and perfume, and in highearning sectors, contributing to comparatively electronics. Men sold more in clothing and accessories and low earnings among women entrepreneurs. The World household and other goods Figure .·. Bank found that women who operate in maledominated sectors make ÂÂ percent higher profits than women The electronics category is particularly notable as women in traditionally female sectors Goldstein, Martinez sold substantially more than men in this category, in the and Papineni ¾. Men’s presence in fashion also prepandemic period. This finding supports the view that suggests that ecommerce is opening opportunities women perform at the same level or better in higher value for men who may see entrepreneurial opportunities in product categories. Together, these findings support the womendominated spaces. hypothesis that ecommerce could enable movement
Figure .· PrePandemic Gender Share of Total GMV by Merchandise Category, ¾·
% ¾% % % »% ·%
Â% Â% ÂÂ% »¶% Â% %
Appliances & Beauty & Clothes & Electronics Household & Total weighted automotive perfume accessories other average
MO WO
· Since there were varying levels of responses to the survey from sellers in the three countries, the total figures presented in the document reflect a weighted average of responses as opposed to a simple average. See Â. WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 28 Figure .¶ Share of GMV by Merchandise Category Before and During the Pandemic QQ ¾ and
% ¾% »% ¶% % »% »% »% ·% ·% ·% ¶%
ÂÂ% Â% »% Â% »·% ¶% »»% ¶% % ¾% ¶% %
¾ ¾ ¾ ¾ ¾ ¾ QQ QQ QQ QQ QQ QQ QQ QQ QQ QQ QQ QQ Appliances & Beauty & Clothes & Electronics Household & Total weighted automotive perfume accessories other average
MO WO
¤.° The COVID¥ Pandemic Has In the newer and comparatively smaller market of Côte Reversed Women’s Early d’Ivoire, WO businesses sold just percent of total GMV Successes in Ecommerce Figure .. Kenya was an outlier with · percent and had the largest share of women owned GMV of the three When comparing women’s and men’s share of total GMV markets. Figure .¾ This is despite the slightly higher in each product category during the same period prior to proportion of microenterprises among WO businesses ¶ and during the pandemic second and third quarters ¾ percent than MO businesses ¶ percent. This reflects and , Figure .¶ shows the biggest drop in appliances the influence of the “super performers” who drove up and automotive, where women accounted for  percent the average GMV for women even as the majority of WO of GMV before the pandemic, and only percent during businesses remained microenterprises. Exploration of the the pandemic. This was followed by a  percent decline in characteristics of WO business who are super performers household and other categories, and a » percent decline in on ecommerce platforms merits further research. electronics. Women’s share of the total weighted average GMV dropped from »» percent before the pandemic to ¶ The global pandemic resulted in setbacks for both MO and percent during the pandemic. WO businesses. Stayathome orders imposed to slow the spread of the virus led to widespread loss of income. When looking at performance at the country level, the study Additionally, sellers faced related logistical challenges found that prepandemic, women were selling more than that made maintaining inventory and fulfilling orders a men in Nigeria and substantially more than men in Kenya. challenge. One woman seller in Nigeria described the situation, “Even once the lockdown was over, people were Figure .¾ PrePandemic Percentage of Total GMV Sold not buying as much as before. I’m just getting back on by Gender and by Country, ¾ my feet. The average Nigerian was thinking of what they could a¹ord to eat rather than what they were going to ¾% wear so it a¹ected my sales. My sales have just started ¾% % picking up again.” ··% Despite the strong performance of WO businesses on Jumia in ¾, MO businesses sold more, on average, during the ·% pandemic and women’s sales were disproportionately »% »¶% impacted. Figure . compares the second and third quarters of ¾, preCOVID¾, with the same period of %
Côte Kenya Nigeria Total On average, the pandemic resulted d’Ivoire weighted average in a percentage point drop in sales MO for women but a percentage point rise in WO sales for men.
29 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA Figure . Share of Total GMV by Gender and Country, Before and During the Pandemic
% »% »% »% »% »% ·% ¶Â%
¾% »»% »»% ¶% Â% ¶% ¾% %
¾ ¾ ¾ ¾ QQ QQ QQ QQ QQ QQ QQ QQ Côte d’Ivoire Kenya Nigeria Total weighted average
MO WO
, during the COVID¾ pandemic. The share of total GMV fell for women and grew for men in all three countries between the two time periods. Though women in Kenya “Whenever financial institutions want to give continued to sell more than men during the pandemic, they did so by a notably smaller margin compared with you a loan, they will make you believe you performance in the prepandemic period. On average, the are not going to pay that much interest, but pandemic resulted in an average drop in sales of seven percentage points for women but had just the opposite in the long run you end up paying so much. e¹ect on menresulting in a sevenpercentage point increase in sales. So presently, I borrow from friends and
These findings corroborate emerging research that shows family.” Woman Vendor, Nigeria the stronger impact of the pandemic on WO businesses a trend seen across sectors and regions See Box .. In the case of ecommerce sellers, the COVID¾ impact was “Usually to get loans you have to approach likely due to a combination of sector selection, reduced ability to adapt through finance or digital solutions, and banks or microfinance institutions. The the disproportionate e¹ects of increased care needs. problem with these financial institutions is More importantly, the comparatively high revenues of that you must give them a guarantee.” WO businesses in the prepandemic period, suggests that the trend is reversable. However, making the reversal will Woman vendor, Côte d’Ivoire require a concerted e¹ort from public and private sector actors. This is discussed further in the recommendations found in section ». “In our research with women in Kenya, we ¤.¹ WO Businesses Are More Likely came across a Swahili saying that loosely to Be SelfFinanced and Less Likely to Leverage Platform translates to, “Nobody wants to take a loan Financing you take a loan because you have to take a Startup Capital: The financing challenges that women entrepreneurs face o¿ine carry over into how they finance loan,” I think that indicates the level of desire and grow their businesses online. Prior to the pandemic to seek out capital for growth.” the global financing gap for WO firms in emerging markets stood at .¶ trillion SME Finance Forum ¶. In Rani Deshpande, Financial Inclusion Expert, Africa, the access to finance gap for women entrepreneurs is estimated at billion GenderSmart . CGAP
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 30 Figure . Sources of Startup Finance by Gender
·% ·%
% % % ¶% ¾% % % %
Loan or credit Loan from family Earnings from Personal savings External investors from bank or or friends another business other financial institution
MO WO
The lack of access to finance is exacerbated by gaps in Working Capital: A similar pattern is visible for working mobile ownership that leave even more women excluded capital and growth financing across the three markets. from digital finance alternatives. Survey data from Jumia After startup, the most prominent source of operating or indicates di¹erences in sources of startup finance, growth capital among both women and men was family ranging from two to four percentage points between and friends, with higher use of formal financing among MO and WO business. Women were more dependent on WO businesses in Kenya Figures . and .. personal savings than men, but both reported using loans from family and friends in equal proportions Figure .. Working capital was found to be particularly challenging A slightly higher proportion of WO businesses reported for sellers operating in markets and selling in categories using formal loans, which may reflect the tendency for that are especially impacted by seasonal fluctuations in WO businesses to expand existing businesses through demand for instance, where orders peak ahead of the ecommerce platforms rather than starting entirely new holiday season. As a woman vendor in Nigeria noted, businesses online. MO businesses were slightly more “Financing and cashflow have been a challenge. I’m the likely to have received external investment, or to reinvest only one doing the accounting, the profit and loss and previous earnings from another business Figure .. other finance related functions for my business. The cash flow is quite important to me and if I could get a loan to Across the three markets studied, there were notable di¹erences between sources of startup finance among expand my business, I would be very happy.” WO businesses. Nearly all women sellers from Côte Gender di¹erences also appear in the use of Jumia loans d’Ivoire reported relying on personal savings to start their É a platformadministered lending initiative that provides business, whereas women in Kenya reported greater sellers with shortterm working capital. Eleven percent use of formal financing than those in the other markets, of MO businesses use Jumia loans compared with seven likely a reflection of the higher rate of access to finance in percent of WO businesses Figure .. An analysis of Kenya, where users were more than twice as likely to have a bank account or have used digital finance Figure .. Jumia loan application data showed that men were more
Figure . Sources of Startup Finance by Country ¾Â% ·Â% ¶%
¾% % % ·% % % ·% % Â% % % %
Loan or credit Loan from family Earnings from Personal savings External investors from bank or or friends another business other financial institution
Côte d’Ivoire WO Kenya WO Nigeria WO
31 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA Figure . Sources of Finance After Startup by Gender
»% »%
·% % % % % % »% »% % ·%
Bank Microfinance Moneylender Family, friends or Jumia Other organization, other people cooperative, credit union
MO WO
Figure . Sources of Finance After Startup by Country »% »Â% ·% % % % ·% % % ·% ¾% % %% % Â% ·% ·%
Bank Microfinance Moneylender Family, friends or Jumia Other organization, other people cooperative, credit union
Côte d’Ivoire WO Kenya WO Nigeria WO
likely to apply for Jumia loans than women and requested confidence in likelihood of approval was found to be more larger loan amounts. However, women were more likely pronounced among businesses that had been operating to be approved for a loan than men. for longer and in more urban areas with higher levels of competition Morsy, ElShal and Woldemichael ¾. There are a myriad of potential reasons for this discrepancy including: the need for a smartphone in order to access the Platforms may present a way to address this perception application to apply for a loan, marketspecific regulatory asymmetry by providing sellers with a more transparent constraints that may pose additional barriers to loan view of their business performance. This access to data applicants without a formal bank account, interest rates, may encourage more growth stage WO businesses to loan duration and minimum borrowing requirements that apply for loans. For platforms, closing this gender gap in may not be conducive to small businesses. platform financing represents a key opportunity to boost seller success, as well as promote as the growth of nascent Other evidence suggests that women may actually self fintech o¹erings. select out of the credit market. Using firmlevel data from · African countries, the African Development Bank AfDB found that, beyond the welldocumented barriers to technology, skills and startup capital, women were less likely to apply for a loan because they held perceptions of Eleven percent of MO businesses lower creditworthiness of their businesses. This lower use Jumia Loans compared with seven percent of WO businessessuggesting a key area of growth for emerging fintech platforms.
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 32 Figure .» Share of Insured by Country
»¾%
¶% % % % ·% % ¶%
Côte d’Ivoire Kenya Nigeria Total weighted average
MO WO
¤.¥ WO Businesses are More Likely ¤.ª Women and Men Have Similar to Carry Insurance Experiences in the Seller Journey
Sellers who protect themselves and their businesses Once on the platform, women and men reported similar through a range of insurance products may be positioning levels of comfort and ease of use along the seller journey themselves for a greater likelihood of success on Figure .·. However, disparities in digital and business skills became apparent when considering what forms of ecommerce platforms. Being insured could also reflect support the two groups valued. a business’s willingness to formalize and protect income streams as they grow and scale, an attribute that is Sellers were asked to rate each step of the seller journey attractive to many financiers. on a scale from to » with being “very easy” and » being “very dicult.” Both WO and MO businesses IFC found a large insurance protection gap between women reported a generally high degree of ease throughout and men due to factors such as higher life expectancy, the seller journey, generally scoring between and , lower labor force participation, and lower pension savings. corresponding to “somewhat easy” or “neither easy nor However, it also found that women tend to be more “risk dicult,” respectively. This reflects the presence of active aware.” They are often the main decisionmakers when it sellers, since those who have greater diculty in the seller comes to seeking and purchasing insurance for themselves journey are more likely to have dropped o¹ the platform. and their families and are thus a key target market for the Challenges that impacted both men and women, such as first and lastmile logistics, reflect ongoing challenges insurance sector IFC and AXA ». within the local markets, such as trust in online payments In the case of business owners on Jumia, trends di¹ered or irregular addressing systems. across markets. Women in both Kenya and Nigeria were The findings show that women on the platform do not more likely than MO businesses to have some type of report any greater diculty than men at any step of insurance coverage. However, in the smaller market of the seller journey. In fact, men reported slightly greater Côte d’Ivoire where most businesses on Jumia were owned diculty than women in delivering orders to customers, by men, slightly more MO businesses were insured than delivering orders to the Jumia warehouse, and getting WO businesses. Over half of both MO and WO businesses paid for orders. This trend is driven by Nigeria, where men on the platform  percent reported having personal reported greater challenges than women Figure .¶. health insurance, a little over a quarter had life insurance, Women’s relatively high comfort level on the seller journey and percent had home insurance. The survey did not suggests that platforms may attract more experienced distinguish between public and private insurance schemes WO businesses with existing digital and business skills. Figure .». Among WO businesses, ¶ percent reported This is reinforced by the finding that women tend to join having another type of insurance, compared to percent ecommerce platforms to grow an existing business, among MO businesses Figure .Â. These higher than whereas men are more likely to join to start a new business average findings for WO businesses may indicate that See Section .». These findings suggest that there is a the women selling on ecommerce platforms are likely need for ecommerce platforms to expand online training to avail of insurance when available, emphasizing strong and support programs, especially those that target micro consumer demand. and newly digitalized businesses.
33 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA Figure . Types of Insurance Coverage Held by Business Owners
Â% Â%
·% ¾% ¶% % % %
Health insurance Life insurance Home insurance Other personal insurance
Total MO Total WO
Figure .· Steps in the Seller Journey ¤. Women Entrepreneurs Are More Likely to Value Training Steps in the and Business Support
Seller Journey Despite similar scores in terms of ease of use across the platform, women were more likely to value key training Initial registration and business management tools provided by Jumia.
To enhance the sales success of all sellers, Jumia provides Listing and marketing products a mix of formal training and inworkflow learning cues. The platform also enables more personalized forms of learning through Jumia University and the Jumia Vendor Preparing items for shipment Hub, both of which allow sellers to access and go through digitized learning materials at their own pace. Additionally, platform tools such as “Seller Coach” and “Content Score” Delivering orders to Jumia warehouse utilize artificial intelligence to rapidly assess listings for quality and provide tips on how to improve them. Managing seller’s online store » Training in client management is also important. As Duncan Oyaro explained, “Women on ecommerce have to be skilled communicators. They have to be able to  Answering customer queries handle customers’ complaints because online customers tend to be highly sensitive. The nature of digital platforms · Receiving payment is so impersonal that it allows people to say things that they would not naturally say to you in person.”
¶ Delivering orders to customers When asked about Jumia services that they found helpful in the last months, more WO businesses mentioned training over other services. Women entrepreneurs also ¾ Processing returns valued networking more than men Figure .¾.
“The challenges are related to logistics and procurement. We always need delivery people to go and drop o the items, or we have to take the items ourselves. Often it is dicult when you don’t have the time and you can’t get a delivery person to deliver the products.” Woman Vendor, Côte d’Ivoire
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 34 Figure .¶ Average Diculty Scores Throughout the Seller Journey by Gender
» .» . .¶» . .» .» .¾» .·» . .¶ .· .· . . . . .» .» . . . .¾ .¶ .¾
Initial Listing and Getting Delivering Delivering Getting Managing Answering Processing registration marketing orders orders to orders paid for your online customer returns products ready for customers to Jumia orders store queries shipment warehouse MO :Very Easy WO Total Average »:Very Dicult
Making such training available online and ondemand could This finding could reflect the gaps in financial and digital also be beneficial for timeconstrained entrepreneurs and inclusion explored above. It may also be explained those based outside of core urban markets. As a woman by women’s concentration in highly competitive, yet seller in Nigeria shared, “I opted for training online because lower value categories such as fashion, where the I was not able to go to their head oce in Ikeja for physical need for di¹erentiation necessitates added support in training. I attended one of the online training sessions and crafting commercialization strategies, including how to learnt how to upload product pictures, how to manage appropriately photograph, market and package products. my business, and it’s been going smoothly.” Promoting existing training and support features to Similarly, a quarter of WO firms reported that Jumia helped women entrepreneurs, as well as rolling out new non their business account for profit and loss, compared financial service training, represents a key opportunity to only · percent of MO firms. This finding suggests for platforms to leverage their reach to support women that the tools for financial management provided by entrepreneurs in emerging markets. platforms like Jumia are particularly beneficial for women entrepreneurs. Among other benefits, slightly more WO firms reported a lower overall cost of conducting business online Figure ..
Figure .¾ Usefulness of Jumia Services to Sellers in the Last Months
¶% »% % % % ¶%
¾% »% % % Â% ·% »% % % %
Sponsored Training Market Networking Newsletter Credit or Photoshoot Other products insights with other financing Jumia sellers
MO WO
35 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA Figure . Benefits of Doing Business on Jumia
Easier to start a new business % or new line of business %
Flexible work schedule ·% »%
Learning new skills Â% ¤. Women Are Less Likely to Use ·% Valueadded Services to Promote Their Products Easier to receive payments % % Another concrete way for platforms to close gender gaps in business performance is to encourage greater Lower cost of doing business Â% uptake of valueadded services amongst WO businesses. % Jumia o¹ers a range of premium services including loans, marketing, and logistics Figure .. Easier to account for % business profit or loss Currently, men are percentage points more likely ·% than women to take advantage of “Sponsored Products,” which is an advertising service that allows Jumia sellers New relationships with other % businesses to boost the visibility of their listings Figure .. A Â% smaller di¹erence exists among services such as inclusion in newsletters, photoshoots, or market insights, but these I can sell for higher prices ¶% all contribute to the gap between average performance of % MO and WO businesses Figure .¾. I am more respected as a »% It may be deduced that women’s lower use of valueadded business person Â% services stems from having to pay a premium for such services on many platforms. Since women have lower Easier to manage employee % revenues, WO businesses are likely to have less disposable performance % income to channel towards additional promotional activities beyond what may already be provided by the Easier to manage suppliers % platform for free. This is particularly concerning given % women’s concentration in high competition segments Easier access to financing like fashion, where such promotional tools could provide a % way to further di¹erentiate their o¹erings. % Figure . Jumia’s Free and Paid Services Other % % Basic/Free Services Premium/Paid Services My family allows me to do % this work Jumia pay Jumia Loans %
Online knowledge/training Jumia Express WO guides MO
Seller Coach Marketing tools “Jumia markets the products for me. • Sponsored products • Market insights The ‘Sponsored Products’ feature makes my • Newsletter
products visible in the search engine results Jumia Logistics so I reach more people and attract Jumia Studio more business.”
Woman vendor, Kenya
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 36 “Being an online seller has enabled me to do things for myself. It has helped me be more selfsucient.”
Woman vendor, Nigeria
¤.¤ Both Men and Women Reported select the top three benfits of selling online on their life, Improved Access to Markets women sellers on Jumia were more likely to value flexible work schedules, with · percent of women reporting this Doing business with Jumia enabled sellers to reach a wider as a key benefit Figure . and · percent noting that audience and gain higher visibility at a lower cost when they had more time with family and friends Figure .. compared to physical stores. Access to larger markets came out as a particular benefit. A female vendor in Kenya A small, but statistically significant percentage of women noted, “ÊOn JumiaË you reach a wide crowd of people. also reported family permission to sell online as a key Currently, very few people have front shops. You find that benefit Figure .. These findings suggest that digital front shops are expensive, so you find that we are in a business is contributing to women entrepreneurs’ ability basement, or a higher floor Êwhich has less foot tracË.” to manage care responsibilities and mobility restrictions, both of which have been exacerbated as a result of the When asked to rate their level of agreement with the COVID¾ pandemic. statement, “Jumia has helped me grow my business,” women and men in Kenya and Nigeria were equally likely to agree with the statement. In Côte d’Ivoire, however, men were more likely to agree with that statement than women. This finding indicates that there is an opportunity “With ecommerce, women don’t need to to provide additional support to women entrepreneurs in Côte d’Ivoire, a market where Jumia entered relatively travel as much to earn money. Women recently. This should enable women sellers to succeed at comparable rates to that of the more established markets can cook their food on the fire and work freely in Kenya and Nigeria. at the same time as long as they have an ¤.¨ Women Value Greater Flexibility internet connection.” and Ability to Reach their Potential Woman vendor, Côte d’Ivoire In addition to tangible benefits such as training or access to markets, women and men viewed the intangible benefits of ecommerce di¹erently. For instance, when asked to
Figure . Agreement with the Statement “Jumia has Helped Me Grow My Business’
% % ¶% »% ¶% % Â% »% % % % % % ·% % »%
¶¶% ¶·% ·¾% ··% ·Â% ·% ·% ·%
MO WO MO WO MO WO MO WO Côte d’Ivoire Kenya Nigeria Total weighted average
Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree
37 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA Figure . Perceived Impact of Selling Online on Seller’s Life
¾% ¾% Â% »%
¾% ·%
·% % % ¶% % %
Income stability Reaching Improved quality Greater Increased Other personal goals of life home enjoyment from social status/ and fulfilling improvement, spending time reputation your potential health, with family and education, etc. friends
MO WO
“When women sellers gain visibility, it
increases their selfesteem. All the benefits
that come with doing business come with
being on an ecommerce platform. If you
have stability, you can grow, you can make
more money, and you become more visible.
Business on ecommerce opens doors of
opportunity for women.”
Dr. Babatunde Oghenobruche Obrimah, Chief Operating Ocer, Fintech Association of Nigeria
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 38 “There is an attractiveness in being able to reach larger markets without necessarily putting yourself out there and that seems to draw women to e-commerce. Whether from a mobility or interaction point of view, e-commerce could potentially offer a high return on the level of effort for women entrepreneurs with competing responsibilities.”
Komal Mohindra, Senior Private Sector Specialist, World Bank
39 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA Box ¤. JForce: Local Jumia Agents Help Place Orders on Behalf of Buyers In addition to its marketplace model, Jumia recruits independent sales agents called JForce agents. JForce agents act as intermediaries between customers and the Jumia platform, purchasing items for customers who may not be connected to the internet or lack the requisite digital skills. JForce agents earn a commission based on each sale. Individuals who are interested in becoming JForce agents can sign up on the platform for free, participate in online training, and begin placing orders for customers without any personal financial investment or obligation. JForce agents earn bronze, silver, gold, and captain status as they sell more on the platform and recruit other agents to work under their supervision.
Given the low internet penetration and limited digital skills in many markets in which Jumia operates, JForce has been an important way for the company to acquire new customers and bridge online sales to o¿ine customers. Over time, Jumia hopes to use the JForce to build greater consumer trust in digital commerce.
This study found that while most JForce agents were men, » percent of JForce agents who responded to the survey in Kenya were women. Indepth interviews with women agents revealed that JForce was often a side business that they pursued in addition to their main business or fulltime job. An advantage for some of these agents was the minimal time commitment required to maintain commissions once they built a network of customers. Increasing the number of women JForce agents could be one way to reach more women customers.
In the longterm, several women agents saw their work as a steppingstone to starting a business of their own, either as a vendor on Jumia or another retail business, online or o¿ine. Working in JForce was important for learning how to run a business in an environment with low financial risk, a¹ording them opportunities to learn new skills on the job, while also building a network of potential customers and other contacts. One Nigerian JForce agent, “I want to be an entrepreneur; I want to start importing and exporting goods. I want to learn mini importation É how to import goods from China and sell. I don’t like working under people. I want to be my own boss.”
Several agents mentioned being able to contribute to household expenses with relative ease due to the supplementary income from JForce. This is especially beneficial for agents who are single mothers, such as one in Côte d’Ivoire who said, “What I earned through Jforce allowed me to buy food and meet small needs for the children. I manage to do my job and have time for my household.”
Other JForce agents use Jumia as a supplier for their o¿ine businesses. Jumia identifies customers who order items frequently, or on a large scale, and reaches out to them personally with the o¹er to become an agent. Some women agents feel they face gender stereotypes from customers. One Nigerian agent said, “I think the major challenge with electronic items is that people tend to buy electronics from men. They believe men know more about electronics. I don’t know if they are right.” Conversely, she felt that women agents tend to be preferred for categories such as fashion and beauty.
Such gender stereotypes that hold women back o¿ine do not carry over to the ecommerce sales of WO businesses, which had higher total sales in the electronics category than MO businesses on Jumia Figure .·. Because they still operate o¿ine, women JForce agents may not be a¹orded some of the same advantages as women ecommerce sellers, whose relationships with customers are intermediated by the Jumia platform such that the gender of the seller is not known to the customer.
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 40 41 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA ¨. The Business Case for Closing Gender Gaps in Ecommerce
Despite women’s success in ecommerce in recent years, gaps still exist in GMV between men and women sellers. In Kenya and Nigeria, though not in Côte d’Ivoire, women slightly outnumber men on the platform. However, taken as individual businesses, women’s average GMV lags behind that of men’s, a gap which has increased during the pandemic.
By the second and third quarter of , women’s businesses accounted for a weighted average of ¶ percent of the total GMV earned by marketplace sellers on Jumia in the three countries while men’s businesses accounted for » percent. This gender gap would be significantly wider if not for the strong performance of WO businesses in Kenya, particularly the super performers in the electronics sector.
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 42 To estimate the total impact of closing gender gaps in Figure . Share of Total GMV Sold by Country, Africa, the research team applied the gender gap in average Q and Q GMV to the growth forecast for the regional ecommerce sector and calculated two possible scenarios. The first scenario maintains the status quo, with no action taken to »% »% »% close gender gaps and the second scenario calculates the impact of closing gender gaps in GMV by ». ¶Â%
In the status quo scenario, with no action taken on gender gaps, the regional ecommerce market is estimated to »»% Â% ¶% develop at a compound annual growth rate of ».» percent. Given a current market size of billion in , this would % mean that the value of ecommerce in Africa could reach Côte Kenya Nigeria Total ¶.» billion by .¶ In this case, women’s contribution d’Ivoire weighted to the total projected value of the ecommerce market in average would be ¶ percent of ¶.» billion, or .»Â billion, MO and .¾ billion for men. WO However, addressing gender gaps and achieving parity The country columns are based on total country GMV. The in earnings on ecommerce platforms could enhance total column is based on the total weighted average GMV the sector’s value even further. In the second scenario, if for the three countries combined. women’s GMV were to reach parity with men in », then additional gains of .»· billion would accrue from » to . The gains were calculated by taking the current anticipated growth rate for regional ecommerce and considering how future growth would be impacted if women’s GMV were to reach parity with that of men. As the size of the ecommerce market grows over time, the value of closing the gender gap increases proportionately. Table . breaks down yearly calculations in more detail.
These calculations serve to illustrate the scope of the potential gain for investing in women in ecommerce. In this instance, nearly » billion equates to just under billion dollars a year that are lost to inaction on gender equality. However, this could be captured through investing in women entrepreneurs. Taking action sooner would increase the potential gains, and delays would reduce them.
Finally, these figures are both simplified, and are to a certain extent conservative, as they do not consider nuances such as the increasing rates of digitalization linked to the pandemic or the increased entrance of women customers into the ecommerce market. Closing the gender gap in GMV earned by women and men by would mean not only greater opportunities for women’s entrepreneurship and income generation, but also growth in the overall market size for Jumia and other ecommerce platforms.
¶ ¶=*+.»»^
43 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA Table ¨. Gains in Total GMV From Achieving Gender Parity
.»· billion
. .¾ .¾ .» .¾ .¶
.¾ .¾ ¶. ¶. .¾ .¾ ¶.» ¶.» .¾ .¾ .¶ .¶ ¶.» Â. ·.¶ .¶· .·¾ . .¶ ¾. . .¾
» Â · ¶ ¾
Billions Billions Billions Billions Billions Billions Billions Billions Billions Billions Billions in in Total in Total in Total in Total in Total in Total in Total in Total in Total in Total Total . . Â.¶ .¶ ».»¾ .·» ¾.¶ »·. ».¶· ·Â.¾ ¶·.¶¶
WO MO Gains from Gender Parity
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 44 45 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA ©. Recommendations for Growing Women’s Participation as Ecommerce Sellers
Achieving gender parity in the representation of ecommerce sellers and the resulting benefits for the overall market size for ecommerce will require a concerted e¹ort among an ecosystem of players. Below are recommendations for ecommerce platforms, investors, and policymakers.
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 46 ©. Conclusion address them. If routine collection of this data is not possible, workarounds such periodic surveys This study found that by addressing gender gaps, the or seller forums can provide avenues for feedback. ecommerce sector could add over nearly » billion to the total value of the sector in Africa by . Thus, ecommerce ¤ Target women with loans or other financing companies have a vested interest in ensuring that women options. This study found that women were less entrepreneurs join platforms and thrive on them. likely to have received financing because they were not always aware of financing options available The findings indicate that women and men come to to them or they perceived that loans were too ecommerce with di¹erent motivations. Further, women risky. Platform sponsored financing, particularly face a range of barriers to success, and thus have less unsecured lending, represents a key opportunity for favorable performance results than men. For instance, ecommerce platforms to grow their seller base, women and men owned businesses do not concentrate while also driving gender equality. Platforms should in the same sectors and have been impacted dissimilarly be intentional in how they communicate such by the COVID¾ global pandemic. These strong gender o¹erings to sellers, ensuring messaging and financial di¹erences, as well as geographic variations, emphasize a products resonate with both men and women. need for continued analysis across the sector and markets. Ecommerce platforms, investors, policy makers and While the gender gaps in insurance access were development actors all have a role to play to close the not consistent across markets, there is a strong gender gaps. need for insurance among both men and women. This suggests that ecommerce platforms could ©. Ecommerce Platforms collaborate with financial service partners to increase access to insurance by aggregating a Collect gender data on sellers. Like Jumia, some potential customer base, particularly in areas like platforms may already collect information on the commercial insurance. gender of sellers as part of the registration and onboarding process. This forms the basis to better ¨ Increase training and networking for women. understand the seller base and will help to assess Women expressed greater appreciation for opportunities to enhance platform attributes training and networking than men and cited and services that can help sellers succeed. Where greater benefits to their business. Platforms should privacy regulations allow, platforms can also go continue to provide training opportunities beyond a step further to collect sexdisaggregated data the onboarding phase and o¹er clear support on individuals in leadership positions in instances channels and informational resources throughout where a business is owned by more than one the seller journey. Platforms should also consider person. Platforms should ask sellers to report establishing peer mentoring and support networks their gender at the time of registration and specific to women, where they can seek and ask sellers to verify or update this information provide support and share advice with each other. at least annually. For larger businesses, sex Supporting womenowned businesses to grow disaggregated data should be captured not only from microenterprises to small, medium, and large for the person managing the account, but also enterprises provides benefits to both ecommerce for other individuals in leadership positions. platforms and women entrepreneurs.
Monitor seller preferences and performance © Encourage women sellers to use product by gender, taking note of gender gaps. Once promotional features. Women were less a platform has collected data on the seller’s likely than men to use Jumia’s paid promotional gender, periodic monitoring of seller performance advertising features that highlight products to by gender, in addition to the platform services customers. Use of such features is particularly they opt into, will indicate any gender gaps and important in highly competitive categories with opportunities to provide additional support to low di¹erentiation like fashion, where men have
47 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA had more success than women. Encouraging at the startup stage where women were more women’s uptake of this feature could improve dependent on personal savings when launching their competitiveness and boost their sales. their businesses. There is an opportunity for Platforms could consider preferential rates on investors to address this through financing product sponsorship for a period of time or a options that are accessible and appealing to campaign specifically targeting women as ways this target population of WO startups, giving to encourage adoption. them the opportunity and support they need to thrive and boost economic empowerment. · Ensure advertisements recruiting potential sellers and Jforce agents are designed to ¥ Set up SMEs for success through holistic appeal to both women and men. This study financing approaches that also build found di¹erences in what motivates women entrepreneurial capacity. Recognizing the and men to join ecommerce platforms as well skills and human capital needs of smaller as di¹erences in barriers and benefits to selling businesses, investors have an opportunity on ecommerce. Findings such as women’s to address these shortfalls by supporting interest in training and business support provide entrepreneurs’ pursuit of additional training and a starting point for ensuring messages are skills development. appealing to both women and men. ª Encourage the collection and use of sex ©. Investors disaggregated data. Investors are in a unique position to incentivize the collection and reporting ° Provide financing options that are conducive of sexdisaggregated data and identifying gaps to MSMEs operating in the digital economy. by making such information standard in their Many African MSMEs face diculty accessing appraisal processes. Such an approach would financing, which constrains their ability to not only reinforce the importance of diversity grow. Expanding access to finance through to seekers of financing, but also prompt equally strategic partnerships with both traditional mindful shifts in hiring practices. and alternative finance platforms could foster growth among MSMEs in the digital economy. ©.¤ Policymakers and Development Targeted financial products can be developed to Actors support the often inventorybound and shorter term financing needs of online entrepreneurs. Support policies that expand internet access Such financing mechanisms can also leverage the and reduce the cost of access. Increased digital vast amounts of data generated by ecommerce connectivity is a catalyst for economic growth platforms to guarantee sellers’ performance and and job creation, particularly in the digital growth potential. economy. Though Internet connectivity on the continent is on the rise, access, a¹ordability ¹ Promote uptake of financial products and quality continue to be challenges for many among women and other underserved people across Africa. groups. Women and underserved groups are less likely to receive financing due to Promote an enabling environment for constraints such as limited collateral and MSMEs to rebound from the COVID¥ gender discrimination inherent in some of pandemic. MSMEs are the largest employer the formal and customary laws that govern in many African countries and account for property rights Global Partnership for Financial a substantial portion of GDP. MSMEs are Inclusion and IFC . This study found that already characteristically more vulnerable to women entrepreneurs were just as likely as economic shocks, and they have also been men to explore financing from banks after start disproportionately a¹ected by public health up. However, gender gaps were more obvious restrictions and lockdowns. This study found that
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 48 WO businesses were more negatively impacted © Address legal constraints that hold women by the COVID¾ pandemic compared to MO back. While the World Bank’s Women, businesses. Policies that support MSMEs to Business and the Law report notes significant weather the COVID¾ storm in the immediate improvements in the Africa region’s inclusion term and that provide an enabling environment of women over the last » years, it also reveals in the mediumtolong term can foster greater large variations in performance across the eciency, improved performance, and growth region and additional opportunities for growth for all businesses, and for womenled enterprises World Bank . While several countries in particular. in the region have implemented many of the best practice approaches regarding women’s ¤ Expand financial inclusion among mobility, as well as protections in the workplace, underserved groups, including women. The marriage, entrepreneurship, and assets, many World Bank found a strong correlation between continue to lag behind in areas such as ensuring access to bank accounts, lending products equality in pay, parenthood, and pensions. Policy and the share of womenled businesses in a stakeholders should prioritize these areas and country World Bank . African women work closely with civil society organizations lag behind men in use of financial tools and CSOs and development actors to enhance mechanisms across every indicator, including understanding of the barriers that women face mobile phone ownership, mobile money use, and and how to economic inclusion can be facilitated bank account ownership. Expanding financial through data. services to women through agent banking, · Address logistics constraints. Many African mobile banking, emoney, and fintech services markets face logistics challenges due to that extend the reach of the financial system lack of universal address systems and poor are important to provide women with greater transportation and communication networks. access, economic independence, and financial In addition to investments in physical stability. This includes creating an enabling infrastructure, formal government policies on environment for innovation and adoption of national addressing systems would significantly digital financial services, by collaborating with reduce complications in last mile delivery. banks, mobile network operators and other stakeholders to support the development of ° Support the growth of tech ecosystems. robust digital payments ecosystems that give STEM programs and startup incubators have sellers more options for quicker and safer cashless been shown to be impactful triggers for digital transactions. Leveraging women leaders in policy innovation. In Kenya, it is estimated that for every dialogue regarding the financial needs of women incubator, new companies are launched, and investing in financial capacitybuilding are expanding job creation, skills development and just two of many policy options for increasing globally recognized innovations such as Twiga women’s financial inclusion Schmidt Â. Foods and Sendy Wankuru ¾. To realize the full benefits of such programs, governments and ¨ Collaborate with platforms to understand other stakeholders should ensure that women’s and address gaps. Understanding gender gaps inclusion is prioritized from the outset, and draws is key to closing them. Future research should on the support of the private sector to enhance continue to leverage private sector data to their commercial viability. This also applies to the generate insights on gender gaps and to inform use of ICT in formal education programs, which policies and programs to address them. would help to prepare younger generations to participate in an increasingly digital landscape.
49 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 50 51 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA ·. Appendix A º Methodology
·. Overview
This study design involved a mixed methods approach, comprising a literature review, a quantitative survey, an analysis of Jumia platform data, and indepth interviews with women sellers and Jforce agents, as well as interviews with Jumia sta¹ and external experts.
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 52 ·. Quantitative data The disaggregated dataset was used for detailed analysis of GMV among the sellers who participated in the survey. Online survey: All sellers currently active on Jumia in The aggregated dataset was used for weighing purposes Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, and Nigeria were invited via email in order to improve the representativeness of the sample to participate in an online survey to be selfcompleted. of sellers. Seller and platform GMV data was commercially Several reminders were sent to help boost response rates. sensitive and not able to be published in absolute values. Due to initial low responses in Kenya and Côte d’Ivoire, Thus, for the purposes of this report, the research team an incentive was introduced after fieldwork had started. presented di¹erences in GMV between WO and MO This incentive consisted of XOF», about for businesses as percentages of total GMV. Côte d’Ivoire and KES» about » for Kenya. The table below shows the achieved samples and fieldwork dates Figure Â. Number of Matched Survey Participants by country.
Number of matched survey Figure Â. Sample and Dates Country participants
Country Achieved Fieldwork dates sample Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire th May É Âth Sep Kenya Â
Kenya ·Â ¶th May É th Aug Nigeria
Nigeria  ¶th May É ·th Sep ·.¤ Weighting
The survey respondents were compared to the overall Platform data: Jumia provided the research team with two platform data with respect to the distribution of GMV extracts of platform data as follows: by product category and seller maturity segment. There were some notable di¹erences between the two groups, a. Disaggregated data by seller for those who with GMV among survey respondents spread more participated in the online survey. This dataset across the di¹erent seller maturity segments compared contained individual level data on GMV by quarter to overall sellers. With respect to product categories, the and product category, as well as information on distribution of GMV among survey respondents and sellers the seller’s activation date, maturity segment, overall varied between the two groups and between the and other related variables. Not all survey countries. There was no consistent pattern. participants could be matched to the platform data due to inconsistencies in the seller IDs. The Due to potentially large weights when taking into account number of matched sellers, which provide the product category, the final weights adjusted only for the basis for the analysis, are shown below. distribution of GMV across seller maturity segments within each country. The final weighting factor ranged b. Aggregated data on mean and total GMV by between .» and .Â. quarter, product category, and seller maturity segment for all sellers on the Jumia platform in Aggregated data on the seller profile of all Jumia sellers in the selected countries, such as number and proportion the selected countries. of sellers by product category, was not available in the Both datasets covered the period first quarter ¾ to aggregated data and therefore not taken into account in third quarter . the weighting.
53 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA ·.¨ Qualitative components Figure Â. Number of Interviews by Type As mentioned above, the qualitative components included indepth interviews with di¹erent groups of sellers and stakeholders. The duration of each interview ranged Country Type No. of between and  minutes. interviews
‒ The research team interviewed women sellers Côte d’Ivoire Internal stakeholder and Jforce agents: The project team interviewed women sellers running their businesses on Jumia, External stakeholder as well as women Jforce agents from the three countries. These sellers were recruited based on Jumia seller  the responses to the quantitative survey in order to ensure a diverse group of participants. Jforce seller
‒ The research team conducted interviews with Kenya Internal stakeholder Jumia sta¹ and external experts: The project team conducted indepth qualitative interviews External stakeholder with several stakeholders, both internal and external to Jumia. Internal stakeholders included Jumia seller  roles such as country Chief Commercial Ocers, Chief Operating Ocers, marketing, and Human Jforce seller Resources leads. External stakeholders involved sector experts from the three countries, such Nigeria Internal stakeholder as founders and senior executives of other External stakeholder digital ventures, as well as those from fintech associations and regulatory bodies. Jumia seller »
Jforce seller
WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 54 55 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA
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59 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA 60 For more information please contact:
Evangelia Tsiftsi Email: [email protected] www.ifc.org/digitalequal
May
61 WOMEN AND E-COMMERCE IN AFRICA