African online retailer Jumia sees growth despite Chinese competition (Reuters)

LAGOS, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Africa-focused e-commerce retailer Jumia Technologies will grow orders by up to 25% and continue to cut costs this year while fighting to keep its market share from Chinese competitors like Temu seeking to expand on the continent, its CEO said on Friday.

Jumia has been aggressively cutting costs to try to turn profitable, including by reducing head count, exiting everyday grocery items and food delivery and cutting delivery services not related to its e-commerce business.

Francis Dufay said the African e-commerce market was deep enough for more players like Temu, which entered the Nigerian market in December.

Jumia reached 6 million customers last year in nine countries, which have a combined population of 600 million people, including Africa's most populous, Nigeria.

"They (Temu) are spending a lot of money so they can take a share, but the market is so big it will not hurt our potential to grow," Dufay told Reuters.

"There's room for everyone to grow, even if they take some share of the market."

Dufay said Jumia would expand to new cities and underserved rural areas while cutting costs on operations and logistics.

The company is aiming to narrow its loss before tax by as much as a third to between $65 and $70 million this year, he added.

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