Jumia, the pan-African ecommerce platform, has reported a significant step towards profitability in its second-quarter results for 2025, posting a 25% year-over-year increase in revenue and a substantial reduction in cash burn.
The company announced revenues of $45.6m for the quarter ending June 30, up from $36.5m in the same period last year. Buoyed by the performance, Jumia has raised its full-year guidance, signalling growing confidence in its strategy.
Operating losses shrank by 18% to $16.5m, while the company’s cash burn was nearly halved to $12.4m compared to the previous quarter’s $23.2m, reflecting a tightened grip on expenses.
“Our second quarter results demonstrate continued momentum in our core consumer business,” said CEO Francis Dufay. “This reinforces our confidence in reaching our strategic goal to breakeven on a Loss before Income tax basis in the fourth quarter of 2026 and achieving full-year profitability in 2027.”
Growth driven by core business
The positive results were driven by strong performance in its core physical goods business. After exiting operations in South Africa and Tunisia in late 2024 to streamline its focus, Jumia saw orders for physical goods grow by 18% and the number of active customers increase by 13% year-over-year.
Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) — the total value of goods sold on the platform — rose 6% to $180.2m. The company noted that this growth was held back by a reduction in lower-margin corporate sales in Egypt; excluding this factor, physical goods GMV grew 24%.
Nigeria, one of its key markets, showed particularly strong momentum, with orders climbing 25% and GMV up 36% year-over-year.
Jumia is also seeing success with its first-party sales, where it sells inventory directly to consumers. Revenue from this stream grew 47% to $23.6m, boosted by partnerships with international brands like Starlink and Adidas. First-party sales means that Jumia is directly sourcing products from brands like Starlink and Adidas and selling them to consumers, rather than allowing those brands to sell their products through third-party sellers on the platform.
A leaner operation
A key part of Jumia’s strategy has been a relentless focus on cost discipline. Sales and advertising expenses fell by 6% even as customer numbers grew, which the company attributes to a more targeted marketing approach.
General and administrative expenses also dropped by 12% year-over-year. Jumia has continued to streamline its organisation, reducing its headcount by 5% since the end of 2024 to just over 2,050 employees. The company stated it is using AI-driven workflows in customer service, marketing, and technology to improve efficiency and lower its cost base.
Raised expectations
Based on the strong quarterly performance, Jumia has upgraded its forecast for the full year.
It now expects GMV to grow between 15% and 20%, up from a previous estimate of 10% to 15%. The company also improved its loss forecast, now anticipating a loss before income tax of between $45m and $50m for 2025, better than the previously projected $50m to $55m.
The results mark a continued effort by the company, once dubbed “the Amazon of Africa,” to prove the long-term viability of its model and deliver the profitability that has long eluded it.