Jumia recently announced a significant executive leadership change within its Nigerian operations, appointing Massimiliano Spalazzi as the new CEO. In his new role, Spalazzi will be responsible for overseeing Jumia's strategy, particularly focusing on boosting business growth through the increased adoption of JumiaPay. This appointment follows Juliet Anammah's transition from CEO to chairwoman for Jumia Nigeria and Head of Institutional Affairs across Africa.

Massimiliano Spalazzi brings a wealth of experience to his new position. He holds a double degree in International Management from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, and Universita Bocconi in Milan, Italy, obtained in 2010. Prior to that, he studied Management as an exchange student at ESSEC Business School in 2008. From February 2010 to December 2014, Spalazzi gained professional experience at various firms including Rocket Internet, L'Oreal, and GI Group. He co-founded Partitona in March 2011 and served as African Regional Manager at Millicom from July to December 2014. His history with Jumia Group dates back to August 2012 when he joined Jumia Nigeria as Head of online Marketing, eventually leaving in July 2014 as a Managing Director.

Spalazzi rejoined Jumia in 2015, undertaking a series of executive roles. He served as CEO of Jumia Market (Africa) and CEO for Jumia's Emerging Countries, which included Ghana, Tunisia, Senegal, Algeria, Cameroon, Tanzania, and Uganda. Most recently, he held an executive role as Vice-President for Marketplace before his appointment as the CEO for Jumia Nigeria, demonstrating his deep understanding of the company's operations and African markets.

Jumia's strategic pivot towards JumiaPay comes amidst financial challenges. The company reported substantial losses, with €45.4 million ($50 million) in Q3 2019, €44.4 million ($48.9 million) in Q2 2019, and €35.6 million ($39.21 million) in Q2 2018. In an effort to cut losses and achieve positive financial figures, Jumia previously shut down operations in certain under-productive African countries and sold off Jumia Travel in Nigeria and Jumia Food in Rwanda.

Despite these past measures, Jumia's leadership believes they now have a solid strategy to drive business growth in Nigeria. According to Jeremy Hodara, co-CEO of Jumia Group, the company is heavily relying on the increased use of JumiaPay within Nigeria. Hodara emphasized Jumia's commitment to continuous improvement and exploring e-commerce potential, stating, “Jumia is not positioned to be the only e-commerce company but to be the best in the space. We are here to stay.”

Currently, the Jumia app offers users three payment options: card details, pay on delivery, and JumiaPay. To encourage JumiaPay adoption, the company has been offering incentives in the form of discounts to users who opt for this payment method. This strategy has shown promising results, with 2.1 million orders totaling €32 million ($35.24 million) being processed via JumiaPay in Q3 2019 alone.

Looking ahead, Jumia has ambitious plans for JumiaPay in 2020. These include extending JumiaPay to third-party platforms, allowing it to process payments for external services. Furthermore, the plan involves broadening JumiaPay's scope to offer financial services such as loans and insurance to its account holders. For Jumia to achieve a significant turnaround in its quarterly reports, these strategies for JumiaPay will require substantial increases in both transaction volume and user traction.