KENYA – Regional e-commerce platform, Jumia, has appointed Kenneth Oyolla as its chief commercial officer (CCO) in Kenya as the firm reorganises amid its plan to cut down on losses.

Mr Oyolla takes over from Diana Owusu-Kyereko who was the outgoing CCO of Jumia Kenya after being in the role since June 2017. She is now the new CEO for Jumia’s Ghanaian arm effective this January 2020.

Mr Oyolla brings a wealth of experience in his new capacity. He held both the Geneal Manager in Sub Saharan Africa and Global Head of Marketing roles in Nokia between 2010 and 2014.

He was also the Global Head of Marketing Activation at Microsoft, Commerical General Manager at Multichoice, CEO of Blueflame Technologies and the Group Head of Commerical at IPS before heading off to Jumia.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Nairobi and is an alumnus of London Business School and is also an accomplished leader with deep operational and leadership experience gained across multiple geographies globally.

His vast knowledge in branding, marketing, business development and e-commerce is intended to help in “connecting consumers to brands and create jobs across the value chain which is transformative.”

He joins Jumia after the e-commerce cut down its operations in Africa and reduced its staff across its markets in a cost-cutting measure that is part of its plan to turn a profit.

The ecommerce giant made substantial changes to its operations in 2019. They closed a number of operations in Rwanda, Tanzania and Cameroon. They closed off Jumia Travels that was taken over by Travelstart. In Kenya, they laid off 6% of the workforce.

Jumia in its financials up to September 2019 said it will continue to balance growth with profitability, adding that it will seek to focus on more promising markets that can help it reverse its losses.

Diana Owusu-Kyereko, Oyallo’s predecessor, shall be taking on the role of CEO for Jumia in Ghana after nearly 3 years as part of the Jumia Kenya family.

Jumia is an online marketplace in Africa for electronics, and fashion among others.The company is also a logistics service, which enables the shipment and delivery of packages from sellers to consumers, and a payment service, which facilitates transactions among participants active and Jumia’s platform in selected markets.

It has partnered with more than 50,000 local African companies and individuals and is a direct competitor to Kilimall in Kenya and Konga in Nigeria. Started in 2012 in Lagos, the company currently has a presence across more than 10 African countries