Copia Global, the first Business-to-Customer – B2C platform simplifying e-commerce for middle to low-Income Africans suspended operations in Uganda after only 9 months.
In Uganda, Copia officially launched on June 2, 2022, and exclusively announced future plans including a state-of-the-art Fulfilment Center in Namanve, which would serve its customer base in the country.
However, Tim Steel, the company CEO, would later announce their close of Africa expansion to concentrate in Kenya.
“To accelerate our drive to profitability, we will pause our Africa expansion plans and suspend our recently established Uganda operation through this period. This decision is consistent with many of the best companies in Africa and across the world, which are responding to the market environment and prioritizing profit,” Steel said in his statement published on the company website, on 19 April.
Tim noted that Ugandan business demonstrated the demand for and replicability of the Copia model in bringing e-commerce to the African mass market.
“We are hugely grateful to the talented team in Uganda who made this happen in such a short time frame. The Kenya entity is rapidly growing its e-commerce service, providing middle-income consumers with an unrivalled high-quality, low-cost, distribution capability, built on a network of more than 50,000 agents,” he explained.
Uganda was the company’s first market expansion since launching in Kenya in 2013.
In their statement, the two new facilities would boost their capacity to 12 centres in Kenya including 11 regional depots and one fulfilment centre at Tatu City, while the expanded hub in Kampala will also double up as a key depot for the region.
