The story of Ron Kawamara, Uganda’s ‘father’ of e-commerce  The story of e-commerce in Uganda, in its truest sense, can never be complete or perhaps even start without the name Ron Kawamara. He left Uganda in his early teens to get a good education in the United States and then the United Kingdom. Once he had secured the knowledge, he came back home to start vending food- but on the internet. That was in 2014. Eight years later, he has now bloomed into a tech and hospitality entrepreneur you can bank on. And the e-commerce dream continues to unfurl.

For starters, who is Ron Kawamara? Where does your story start? 

Ron is a husband and a father to a 4-year-old daughter. I was born in Fort Portal to a family of nine children. I attended Buhinga Primary School in Fort Portal and later Ntare School for my O’Level. After my S.4 exams, I moved to Los Angeles, California where I completed college at Los Angeles Valley College as valedictorian. I enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Development Economics, and went on to earn a Master of Science in African Development Studies degree from the University of Oxford. I also completed the University of Cambridge post-graduate program in Development Economics. Of all my life, the 4 years I spent at Ntare School are the most transformative of my life.

Professionally I have recently transitioned from my role as Senior Vice President at Jumia Group and CEO for Jumia Uganda. I have been with Jumia across East Africa for the last 8 years. I will start in a new role leading another organisation next year and will focus on scaling my company Hugamara Group, a private equity firm specialising in hospitality and fintech. Before Jumia and Hugamara Group, I worked for People Connect, a startup in the San Francisco Bay Area (USA) as a Business Development Manager and Strategy Manager at FedEx. I love all things technology, entrepreneurship, reading politics and economics, and spending time with family and friends

You studied Political Science and African Development Studies at the Post-Graduate level. How did you end up in e-commerce?

When at University, I planned to go to law school and become a lawyer, that’s why I chose the degrees I did. The University of California, Berkeley is in the San Francisco Bay Area, the global centre of tech business so there were always tech people on and around campus hiring for many tech giants. Many graduates also went on to start their own startups. I did internships with startups in San Francisco who were changing the nature of business across the globe. I was intrigued by the creativity of the young business leaders who were using the power of the internet to disrupt the old way of thinking and trading. So when I decided to come back to Uganda, working in e-commerce was a natural landing for me. 

Between 2013-2016, you pioneered Hello Food, which would later become Jumia Food. What motivated you? What was your experience like; trying to recruit restaurants into what must have seemed like an alien concept?

Hello Food was one of the first major online businesses in Africa and it was an absolutely exciting task and a lot of hard work to educate the consumers and vendors, build the tech relevant for the market, build last mile logistics, and scale the business. Restaurants and businesses did not believe in online delivery as a critical incremental part of the business. We educated vendors on their profit margins and how they can leverage our delivery app to grow their business. Early adopters made a lot of money on Hello Food and that helped get more of them to join the platform. Today many restaurants make up to 50% of their sales through delivery.  

In 2016, we rebranded from Hello Food to Jumia Food. This was a terrifying experience for those of us who had invested a lot of ourselves in growing the brand equity of Hello Food. Whereas it made sense to consolidate all the brands under one Jumia, Hello Food was beloved and we worked very hard to keep that brand affinity with Jumia Food. My role was to grow all the Jumia Food businesses across East Africa and in my time as East Africa MD, Kenya was number one in Africa and Uganda at Number three ahead of massive countries like Nigeria and Egypt. It was a great part of my career. 

How would you describe the experience of running an e-commerce business in a not-so-e-commerce-ready market? How is Uganda different and peculiar from other Jumia markets?

Uganda is an exciting market. Consumers are tech-savvy are in tune with global trends and want to save money and time. As first movers, we have had the privilege of solving some of the key challenges in Uganda. Our value proposition was on offering the widest assortment of products and services at the best prices across the board. To achieve this, we had to resolve the inherent challenges of doing business in Uganda like unreliable supply chains, unmapped areas, last mile logistics, payment remittances, high cost of internet, and an aggressive tax regime on internet and electronics. We managed to build an ecosystem that has created tech solutions for these challenges and in turn sparked acceleration in the e-commerce space. Today, Uganda is one of the most vibrant e-commerce markets and is performing stronger than most developed African markets. 

What would you say are the key challenges that you and probably many other e-commerce and big retail companies face, doing business in Uganda?

E-commerce is still a new concept in Uganda and faces a major trust barrier on top of other barriers all businesses face. However, we have made significant progress in winning the love and trust of consumers. We have screened vendors and only work with trusted ones and we invested in guaranteed warranties on electronics, 14-day return/refund, and payment on delivery. The e-trade sector has deployed a high standard in consumer protection and aggressively low pricing that the brick-and-mortar has had to follow if they are to compete. 

The challenges that are harder to overcome are those out of our control. As chair of the e-trade and startup association of Uganda, we have engaged the government in vain on issues around extra taxation on internet usage, blocking Facebook, and high import tax on electronics that are critical for businesses and consumers. 

If you were in charge of the government, how would you fix them or rather how would you advise the government to fix them? What needs to be changed in the regulatory landscape and mindscape to make e-commerce work better?

Government must understand and see e-commerce as the next great industrial revolution and at the very least government should do no harm. E-commerce in Uganda is less than 2% of all transactions in the country. Overregulation and taxation of the space in its infancy will kill the sector before it even takes off. All the major online companies are in a loss-making position given the nature of investment required to build the businesses. Government should intervene to make sure the ecosystem of logistics, internet, payments, regulation, and taxes supports the growth of e-commerce, otherwise, Uganda will remain a consumer of tech companies and not a creator of tech. 

Amidst all this chaos- there must be some opportunities. What would you tell anyone trying to set up an e-commerce/massive retail business in Uganda/East Africa in terms of opportunities?

E-commerce is a great equalizer. We have seen entrepreneurs with limited capital build incredible businesses. Ugandans should see opportunity in the chaos and challenges we face every day. We have problems in the transport, health, education, and agriculture sectors for example where tech can create a lot of value if entrepreneurs are willing to take risks and create solutions to monetize. 

Looking back at your- almost 10 years in e-commerce- what would you say were your key wins? Your highest moments—your achievements?

I am immensely proud of what we achieved at Jumia and in e-commerce over the years. We believed that the internet would make everyday life in Africa better. We started e-commerce when no one believed this would work. We scaled Jumia, expanded in many countries, attracted the best talents, developed a thriving marketplace, built a unique logistics business, pioneered online payments, and became the first Africa Tech company to list on the New York Stock Exchange.

And more importantly, we created a special working culture, grounded in powerful values. Our values overcome people, and strategies and make Jumia such a special company.

What would you say were your lows; the toughest moments?

At the start, we tried different e-commerce models and some did not succeed in all the countries where we operated we had to make tough decisions to keep investing in markets that had the best potential and highest return on investment. I closed business lines in Rwanda for example and that was difficult both personally and business-wise. It has a serious impact on staff and partners. 

Looking back- what would you change or would you do it all over again? Looking at 2014 when you came back to Uganda to start Hello Food- knowing what you know now, would you have returned home?

The last decade has been intense and full of rollercoasters. Along the way, I have made mistakes but they have helped me learn and grow in business and personally. I’m humbled by the mistakes and excited about the achievements we have reached. Some of the things I wish I knew from the start is that African countries are quite diverse and so unique from each other and different from the United States and the United Kingdom where I spent a big part of my life. What works in New York might not work in Lagos and what works in Nairobi might not work in Kampala. It took me longer to adapt the business to reality in the African markets I was managing. 

What lessons have your learned in all this? 

I know e-commerce is soon reaching a point of no return driven by young entrepreneurs and startups across Africa. I am so proud of the talent and commitment of Ugandans who are working in tech. I have had the privilege to recruit and meet thousands of talented and ambitious people, driven by a mission to use the power of the internet to change the lives of millions of Ugandans. They continue to leave a mark in Africa within and outside Jumia. So the future of e-trade is fantastic. 

e-commerce/tech is the present and the future. Looking at Uganda, especially our education system- do you think we are producing and or preparing to produce the right people with the right on-demand skills? How do we retrofit our education system to make it future-ready?

The education system in Uganda is not educating the mind, we are educating the body. The skills required in modern business require soft skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, and big data analysis are largely missing in our academic systems. We are teaching for examinations and not developing individual skills. Young people are required to choose an academic track before they are self-aware about their skillset and interests. If you compare our system to the USA where students are encouraged to pursue any field of their interest and encourage creative thinking rather than hard tests. Most universities have removed requirements for standardised testing like SATs in favour of a holistic review of a candidate. Uganda must dump the old colonial education that trained Ugandans to be workers rather than creators. 

Lack of access to affordable capital is a problem for every SME. Most of the startups that have gotten access to capital, especially in the tech space do not seem to be Ugandan or Ugandan owned for that matter. How do you advise Ugandan startups to organise themselves for Capital? What do they need to watch out for?  

Building startups in Africa is a major challenge and funding is at the core. Many great ideas do not see the light of day and often ideas are pitched across Africa and get implemented by other countries. But we have great examples of many startups that have successfully raised funding and created successful businesses. We have a lot to learn from companies like Safe Boda and Tugende who have done this well. Entrepreneurs can still raise investment capital if the concept is scalable and they develop rapport and business credibility. So young people must work on themselves as much as they work on their startups. I believe the government also has a role play. We need to invest more in startups and incubators and reduce as many barriers to growth for startups. 

Standing on the outside it appears, you guys are making a lot of money but getting closer- looks like there is a lot of fire in the kitchen. What has been the experience?

Building an e-commerce business is very difficult and expensive across the globe and there are always fires every day. That’s why it took Amazon twelve years to turn profitable. Today, global giants like Uber, Twitter, Air BnB, and Pan African companies like Jumia and Konga are in a loss-making position. At Jumia we focused on making the right investment in customer awareness and trust, the tech, fast logistics, and a strong team so we can shorten the pathway to profitability. Despite the global economic challenges facing businesses, Jumia is on a clear pathway to profitability. 

You have been the face of e-commerce/e—trade in Uganda. A lot has been said about your next steps. So what’s next?   

I have enjoyed the last decade leading Jumia from inception, working across Africa, and contributing to the tech and e-commerce ecosystem. It was a hard decision because I loved every day and every challenge at Jumia and I knew how much I’d miss Jumia and everyone there. But it was the right timing for me to take on a new opportunity, join a couple of company boards, and focus on growing my family businesses. I’m taking a few months to slow down and reorganise my businesses, and then I jump right into the fire again in the new year. I’m still committed to growing e-commerce in Uganda and will continue as Chairman of the e-trade and Startup Association of Uganda. 

by Muhereza Kyamutetera

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