When it was firing on all cylinders, Jumia was commonly referred to as the Amazon of Africa with the potential of becoming Africa’s first tech unicorn.
However, concerns over its alleged breach of investor and customer “trust” in its initial public offering (IPO) in April 2019 shook a company that was synonymous with online trading on the continent. “Trust is critical in Africa where people traditionally rely on face-to-face interaction,” said Jumia in its IPO prospectus.
One of the biggest concerns by a majority of customers was that the goods delivered did not quite match the orders made.
This concern, industry players say, still persists, with online buying and selling remaining worryingly low on the continent.
The latest data by Statista, a German company specialising in market and consumer data, shows that 40 per cent of Kenyans involved in online transactions are likely to pay using cash.
Another 25 per cent prefer cards, while 35 per cent use other payment methods, including mobile payments.
AfricaSokoni Chief Executive Ebrima Fatty said a majority of people feel they will get shortchanged in the process of doing online business, hence the low uptake.
“There has always been an issue of trust. Customers have in the past been defrauded by some online sellers, making e-commerce massively unattractive to many Kenyans. People not getting what they have ordered has really spoilt the reputation of online markets,” said Fatty. Heho Mbiru, the founder of PesaTrust said the firm was started as a middleman between the seller and the buyer to address some of the concerns over quality.
The buyer and the seller agree on the price of the item(s) inclusive of the delivery price and agree to conduct the transaction through PesaTrust.
The buyer enters the transaction details and deposits the agreed amount into the PesaTrust escrow account, including the escrow fee using any one of the multiple payment methods available.
“PesaTrust informs the seller that we have received the amount that was agreed on and gives the seller the go-ahead to deliver the items,” said Mbiru.
