Copia to Shut Down Uganda Operations

The e-commerce platform Copia has stated that it will shut down its operations in Uganda, where it first opened shop in the middle of 2021.

This most recent announcement about the shutdown of its Uganda market signals a shift that hadn’t been anticipated by experts who are familiar with how the platform operates.

Copia, which targets low-income clients in Africa, has been expanding over a previous couple of years.

For instance, Copia had already raised a sizeable sum of money to hasten its expansion goals before it began there. It completed a Series B drive in 2021 and raised KES 2.6 billion.

At the same time, it also shook up its administration by recruiting Betty Mwangi to its board of directors (Betty is a former executive at Safaricom who formerly held the position of CEO of Jumia Kenya).

Copia received $50 million in a financing round at the beginning of 2022. Goodwell Investments was the lead investor in the Series C round.

It would be reasonable to infer that Copia was in a good position to expand its services to more nations in Africa given the resources at its disposal. This is not the case, though, as a statement from the business suggests that Copia is merely another casualty of the current hard economic times that have forced computer companies to lay off their staff.

“To accelerate Copia’s drive to profitability, the company is pausing its Africa expansion plans and suspending its recently established Uganda operation during 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,” reads a statement from Copia.

Copia has not revealed how many of its workers have been affected in its now-former Uganda station.

“This highly focused approach will ensure that Copia is well positioned to pursue its pan-African ambitions with its proven formula for successful expansion to serve the 800 million middle- and low-income consumers through the power of e-commerce,” adds Copia.

In Kenya, e-commerce platforms have not fared successfully. For instance, Jumia has failed to establish itself in both the national market and other markets. The company’s local situation has gotten so poor that three different CEOs have been appointed in less than two years. Since then, several of its executives have left the business, while others have started competing services like Kapu.

Given that businesses are already adept at downsizing their operations and reducing their workforce, it is unclear how e-commerce and digital trade will develop over the coming months or years, but there may be some hope.