Chidi Anyina, CEO, ACOA Courier, a logistics company with Jumia, speaks about his business trajectory in the past 8 years and how the little known company was transformed into a household brand, courtesy of the partnership with Jumia and the gains of Covid-19. Excerpts by SEYI JOHN SALAU:
2020 was very critical for many businesses because of Covid-19; how has the pandemic impacted your business?
Covid was a tough time for businesses but it kind of boosted the logistics sector. At that point, we were having volumes in spite of the lock down and the restrictions. This is due to the fact that we enjoyed being on the list of essential service providers at the time. And being under the Jumia umbrella further made it easier for us. We saw a surge for processing orders for nose masks, as well as hand sanitizers. That was the initial shock, initial items. And we graduated to having food items, noodles packs and stuff like that. That was how that season went. It was even a time when we realised we had a boom because many of the markets were shut down and many people had to fulfil orders outside of the market so they were coming to us. Restaurants that were on e-commerce platforms were still able to connect with their customers and make deliveries to them through us. We had to scale our operations, and even moved from a duplex to a duplex and boys quarters just to be able to absorb the volume of items that were coming up at that time.
Tell us how you upscaled in terms of delivery figures despite Covid?
We started off doing about a hundred orders every other day. Now, we did 17,000 orders in June. That shows the scale that we’ve grown over the course of the years. We’ve seen ups and downs; we’ve lost and we’ve gained. But most importantly, we’ve impacted the community; we’re like the biggest employer of labour in Festac Town.
Read also: Why logistics will power AfCFTA and Africa’s e-Commerce export potential
What is your general view of the logistics/e-commerce sector of the economy?
The logistics sector is growing at a speedy rate. It’s there for all to see. With vans and bikes, the service is penetrating both rural and urban areas of the country. We see small companies springing up to fill service gaps left by the big companies. It is important to note that e-commerce services of the likes of Jumia are driving logistics growth because they are the ones who connect sellers to buyers to create orders being delivered by logistics firms on a daily basis. The sector is creating employment for youths as well. Many boys are now off the streets thanks to the logistics service boom of recent years. We hope that the government will further help grow the sector with favorable policies and infrastructure as well because a lot can still be achieved. The sectors and e-commerce in general hold huge potential contributions to the nation’s economy.
Can you tell us how it all started for you as a logistics business?
Like the case for many SMEs, it was a humble beginning for us. We started off in a boys quarters of about two rooms, with just a bike, a van and two other staff. It was rough as we had to deal with low turnover and at the same time keep the business going.
How would you rate the business now compared to when it started eight years ago?
You can see for yourself that what we have now is not the description I gave about starting up eight years ago. I have to say that business has really improved thanks to our Jumia partnership. Being part of their hub gives us access to more orders. Aside from that, we also benefit from their logistics network and technology. Now we have graduated to having about 37 staff spread across 3 environments, two states; Lagos (Festac Town and Satellite) and then Aba.
