WEST AFRICA – Glovo, a leading multi-category delivery platform, has recently announced the expansion of its operations in Africa, to include Ghana and Tunisia, bringing its current operations to a total of seven countries on the continent.
Glovo app is already available in Morocco, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria, bringing its services to more than 40 cities, more than 300,000 users, 8,000 restaurants and 12,000 couriers.
Glovo launched operations in Accra in Ghana earlier this year, with the city of Tema following last month and it expects to launch in Tunis in Tunisia this October.
“Our expansion in Africa is something we are very proud of. There’s been an unprecedented spike in the on-demand delivery business in Africa and the expansion of our services to new countries and cities is both a reflection of that trend and a testament of our commitment to the continent,” William Benthall, Glovo’s General Manager of Sub-Saharan Africa, said.
“We believe what sets us apart is our multi category offer where at a click of a button we can deliver anything that fits on a bike to our users.”
“There’s been an unprecedented spike in the on-demand delivery business in Africa.”
Glovo’s investment in the region to date is worth a combined total of US$30 million and the company expects to invest an additional US$60 million over the next 12 months to further accelerate expansion.
The company believes there are a number of key markets in Africa that are currently underserved and recognises the unique opportunity for the platform within local communities by supporting independent businesses and helping them reach new customers online.
Glovo already has core local leadership teams in its established countries in Africa and the company is committed to continuing its policy to hire top local talent. During the initial phase of its new expansion, the company plans to double its number of employees and add another 200 employees across the region by the end of 2022.
Glovo Market uses the latest in-store digital technology and dedicated resources to ensure the quickest possible delivery time. Micro Fulfillment Centers have considerably reduced the delivery time from 45 minutes to 30 minutes.
Currently Glovo is optimising to get it down to 20 minutes. Furthermore, the MFCs have also enabled wider coverage and, in turn, grown the number of Q-commerce orders.
Demand for world-class online shopping opportunities is growing exponentially in Africa’s leading economies, as urbanization and incomes continue to rise, according to McKinsey Global Institute and there is still vast room to grow in Africa.
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