Evans Kidia started working at Kenyan logistics company Tenadel in Nairobi in 2021. His job included delivering orders for Jumia Food, Africa's largest homegrown e-commerce company's food delivery app. According to Mr. Qidia, Tenadel executives check the amount earned on the Jumia Food app every weekend, deduct commission fees, and pay Mr. Qidia.
The 43-year-old father-of-four worked in the system for more than two years until Jumia discontinued its food delivery operations in seven African countries, including Kenya, in December 2023.
On the day the app was shut down, Qidia had some money left in his Jumia food wallet, but he never received it. Five months later, Qidia still hasn't been able to collect the balance. Although his funds are held on Jumia's platform, he is in a unique position as he has never been directly involved with the company. He is pursuing his former manager at Tenadel, but things are not going well for him. “We meet from time to time. I asked him about his balance, but he didn't answer,” Qidia told Rest of the World. He said passengers like him who were hired specifically for Jumia food deliveries were laid off after the platform was shut down. under.
Rest of World spoke to 12 former Jumia Food employees in Kenya and Nigeria who said they had not been paid for the last few weeks they worked on the app after it abruptly shut down. ing. Meanwhile, Jumia Food told Rest of World that it has paid all logistics partners the full amount owed to delivery drivers. Three former Jumia Food partners, including Tenadel, told Rest of the World that all remaining passengers had been paid one after the other.
After Rest of the World newspaper reported that Jumia Foods' workers were being abandoned due to the closure of seven African markets, a company spokesperson said on April 4, “Jumia Foods is fully committed to all financial obligations.'' We take this seriously,” he said in an email. “All payments made by 3PL [third-party logistics providers] Filled by Jumia before Jumia Food's closure. This was so that the 3PL could pay the salaries owed to the delivery companies. Additionally, we have never received any complaints from delivery companies about not being paid by their employers. ”
Jumia said it had more than 600 logistics partners before shutting down its food delivery business, but declined to disclose the exact number of employees on its app, saying the numbers change frequently.
Following reports on April 4 that several Jumia Food employees were left without pay after downsizing, the company told other countries that it “does not directly employ most of its drivers.” However, 31 former Jumia Food employees in Kenya and Nigeria told Rest of World that they operated the app directly without the involvement of third-party players. At least nine of these workers said they have not been paid for their work over the past week.
Chinyere Emesi, a former consultant for Fair Work, a research project at the Oxford Internet Institute, said Jumia was responsible for the treatment of its workers, even if they were employed through a partner.
“Although third-party logistics companies are direct employers of some gig riders, they operate within the framework provided by Jumia Food, which plays an important role in shaping working conditions. [for these riders]” Emesier told the world. “Jumia Food also has accountability. It can create policies and guidelines to reduce unfair practices and ensure gig workers are treated fairly.”
“We anticipated the closure because we saw all the signs before it happened.”
Lagos-based IClass Logistics was one of Jumia Food’s logistics partners until the app was withdrawn from the market in December. At its peak, the company had more than 50 Jumia food delivery workers, CEO Rashid Kayode told the world. He said the company was paying salaries to all its employees before the app's operations were suspended.
“We anticipated the closure because we saw all the signs before it happened and had many risk measures in place internally,” Kayode said. “In fact, IClass Logistics has deposited a deposit with Jumia and, under the contract, the account will be rebalanced over a period of time. The deposit serves to clear them, so it usually takes a few weeks to balance the outstanding amount with the deposit we have.”
Tenadel Managing Director David Abuwao told Rest of the World that Tenadel has paid all Jumia Foods employees in full. “We would like to know which riders have said they have not received payment,” he said. “The only thing that makes sense is knowing exactly which riders didn't receive their money.”
Ayoade Ibrahim, a digital labor activist and co-founder of the App-Based Carriers Integration Federation of Nigeria, said the agreements Jumia Food and its partners have with gig workers are not transparent and leave workers vulnerable. He told other regions that it has become.
“In a partnership, you have the right to know when the company is doing well or not,” Ibrahim said. “That's not the case here. Even with riders who work directly with them, they just cut them off…You know, they don't call them workers, they don't treat them as partners. You just take advantage of them. It’s just that.”
Some delivery workers who worked directly with Jumia Foods say they have not been paid for last week's work. “The company has outstanding balances totaling approximately Sh5,000.” [$38]” Wellington Ekabi, a Nairobi-based gig worker, told Rest of the World. “I tried to contact them but to no avail.” Ekabi said he worked at Jumia Food for four years before it closed down.
Opeyemi Moses, who worked directly at Jumia Foods in Lagos for nearly two years, told Rest of the World that the company is trying to recover more than 30,000 naira ($22) it owed him.
“I lost hope for them,” he said.