As measures to curtail transmission of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) stay in place, market vendors, through a newly launched online platform, can now connect with their consumers and supply them with what they need.
The platform was launched by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with Jumia Uganda and NITA-U.
How it works
Customers, will be able to place orders via Jumia Food’s app and or website from selected vendors in five (5) markets; Nakasero, Nakawa, Wandegeya, Bugolobi, and Kalerwe.
Market agents deployed by Jumia will then validate the orders and then inspect the goods and services before they are dispatched to ascertain that they meet the requisite quality, are hygienic, and have been securely and safely packaged. The orders will then be delivered via Jumia’s robust last-mile distribution network, made up of riders that have been trained to provide safe and contactless deliveries.
Initially, payments will be made through Jumia’s diverse set of payment, namely: cash on delivery, MTNMOMO and Bank Deposit/Transfer. However, in a few weeks’ time, payments will also be facilitated through e-pay, a national payments platform, being implemented by NITA-U together with the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, through the Accountant General’s Office.
e-pay enables government and private sector business enterprises to receive payments for their supplies from all financial payments services including commercial banks and mobile payments services on a single platform.
NITA-U will also provide advisory services to the project as well as partner with Jumia to train the vendors. For the initial six months, UNDP will provide smartphones, airtime, and data to be used by the selected market vendors.
The analytics from this partnership will then be used to scale the offer to different customer segments and regions in the country and come up with more productions in different sectors.
Timely solution
While officiating at the launch, at Nakasero Market in central Kampala, the Minister of Trade, industry, and Cooperatives Amelia Kyambadde said that the initiative will reduce congestion in the markets and traffic jams around these markets and hence not only reducing the risk around spreading the virus, but also increasing convenience of shopping.
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The UNDP Resident Representative Elsie Attafuah said that the partnership with Jumia Food, will provide, “a safe, convenient and fast service to the citizens of Uganda while boosting trade.”
She said the initiative is part of UNDP’s broader effort to deploy digital solutions for business continuity through e-governance and e-commerce, as Uganda responds to the current disruptions and pressures caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“COVID-19 presents not only health but also a humanitarian and development crisis that is threatening to leave deep social, economic, and political scars for years. It is therefore important to build the national capacity to harness the digital economy to expand e-commerce to support supply chains to enable business continuity and support livelihoods,” Ms. Attafuah added.
Jumia Uganda’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Ron Kawamara, said the “Stay Home and Shop” service has been simplified for both the vendors and the buyers to use.
“e-commerce digital platforms like Jumia are at the forefront of providing the informal sector and SMEs solutions to keep running and reaching customers during the COVID-19 crisis. We are very excited to partner with UNDP and offer our platform, delivery tools, training and experience to market vendors to access consumers in need of fresh produce and for consumers to be able to access the produce, safely,” he said.
NITA-U fast-tracking digital revolution and safe electronic transactions
Commenting on the initiative, James Saka, the NITA-U Executive Director said that the changes caused by Covid-19 are a stimulus for fast-tracking the digital revolution in Uganda.
“Our lives have changed and we shall never go back to where we were. We need to do things differently and technology is going to play a big part. We now have to bring more online services to help our citizens either work from home or stay at home but continue living their normal lives. This is going to be the new norm,” he said.
