I just listened to Jumia Nigeria CEO (Juliet Anammah) explaining the Jumia side of the Citron “fraud” allegations against the African ecommerce pioneer. She put a show there on CNBC Africa. As I wrote, when the news broke, “The Americans are wrong – Jumia is not a fraud”, I saw no basis for Jumia to think adding those merchants or users will change its trajectory.
Yet, across all events I have attended, that question has been coming up, and it is getting really nauseating that Jumia has failed to put a formal response. This TV response is not effective – not many people have time to watch a 26-minute show for answers which are all over the place. You cannot rely on the Citi Research reaction since Citi did come to the same conclusion – Jumia respond and explain the two areas of concerns.
Jumia – put a formal response. This allegation can break you in America. Look at the stock – it is dropping. Largely, you had a great quarter but this lack of press management could be eroding trusts in your potential investors. This is America where data and news move markets.
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Citron Research Calls Jumia a “Fraud”, Stock Drops [Download the Report]
LinkedIn Summary
Jumia is a category-king company but its response to the Citron allegation gets EDEFE, as scores, from me: E on speed, D on stubbornness, E on substance, F on readiness, and E on value preservation. The CNBC interview from Jumia Nigeria CEO is not enough. They need to put a formal response. Like I wrote the day the news broke – “The Americans are wrong – Jumia is not a fraud”. But that message must come from Jumia! This is America where data and news move markets.
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