Africa’s largest e-commerce merchant, Jumia Food has expanded its food delivery service to five other states in Nigeria . The new cities are Minna, Benin City, Kaduna, Abeokuta, Kano, and Ilorin.

Chief Executive Officer, Jumia Nigeria, Massimiliano Spalazzi, said the extension of Jumia Food to these additional cities is part of Jumia’s resolve to expand the growing popularity and thrilling experience of online fast food services to customers in all Nigerian states.

“The food industry is very relevant to the Nigerian economy. With today’s covid-19 realities, the growing popularity of fast food, coupled with the growing trends for convenience, safety and value for money, has opened up opportunities for the food market in Nigeria. As the leading online marketplace in Nigeria and Africa, it comes naturally to us to help drive the penetration of this service through our technology and reach of our logistics network. By doing this, we are also helping to explore the food segment of the Nigerian Agricultural sector which has the potential of huge contribution to the Nigerian economy,”he said.

In 2020, Jumia had a major service improvement in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja and Ibadan routes by increasing its speed of delivery, with an average delivery time as fast as 26 minutes in Port Harcourt, 27 minutes in Lagos, 28 minutes in Ibadan, and 30 minutes in Abuja.

Jumia’s 2020 Nigeria Food Index report showed that the country’s agricultural sector experienced a major boom in 2019, significantly responsible for the 90.23 percent contribution made by non-oil sectors to Nigeria’s GDP.

The inventory further showed that the food and grocery retail market had total revenues of $44.9 billion, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.7 percent in the last eight years.

The report also showed that overall grocery retailing continues to expand, as consumers seek comfort and convenience when shopping for food. Food subsection alone made $33.7 billion in profit, equivalent to 75 percent of the market’s overall value.