MEST Students Pioneer Jumia’s Expansion into Kumasi

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From L-R Alexander Okereke, Jerry King, Prince Anim[/caption]

The online shopping giant, Jumia has teamed up with the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) to create a unique internship program for its young entrepreneurs-in-training (EIT’s). Over the coming months, they will be given the opportunity of building up the Jumia brand in Ghana’s second largest city, Kumasi. Their objective is to disrupt retail in Kumasi — reducing prices on a huge range of products for customers there.

Jumia is Africa’s leading online shopping mall — and has been changing the shape of retail in Ghana for 1 year. It offers a huge range of products, at unbeatable prices & delivers the products to customers’ homes or offices. All by placing an order with a click of a button. A great way to avoid sitting in traffic & overcrowded shopping malls!

MEST provides training, investment, and mentoring to aspiring high-technology entrepreneurs from Ghana, Nigeria & recently Kenya with the goal of building globally successful companies that create wealth and jobs in Africa.

The partnership between MEST and Jumia is an effort to give these young entrepreneurs the platform to practice entrepreneurship in the field. Jumia is one of the most successful recent start-ups in Africa — eg. winning the prestigious World Retail Award & raising significant investment from MTN & Milicom (owners of Tigo). Given the increasing importance of work experience in the business world, Jumia is providing these young entrepreneurs with the opportunity to develop relevant and applicable skills that will aid their long-term careers. The interns are putting what they learned in their classes to use.

Commenting on the initiative with MEST, the MD of Jumia Ghana, Sam Chappatte said, “Jumia is very excited about launching in Kumasi & bringing GREAT prices to new customers there. We are very confident that the dynamic MEST students will have a big impact in the coming weeks & learn a lot in the process.”

Having recently completed their trainings and orientation, the interns, Jerry King, Prince Anim and Alexander Okereke left for Kumasi last week. Here is what they have to say about the experience so far:

“Jumia is providing a lot of value to residents of Kumasi in terms of low and competitive prices and the convenience of having items delivered to homes or offices. We just can’t wait for Kumasi to have the full Jumia experience & are confident they will love it” — Jerry, MEST Trainee and currently Sales and Marketing Associate at Jumia.