Observed every March 8th, International Women’s Day is a global celebration of social, cultural and political achievements of women while promoting gender equality. The day is set aside for a global campaign to sensitize and deepen the gender equality movement.
The 2021 celebration theme: ‘Choose to Challenge’, was a call to individuals, social, political and corporate organisations to challenge the status quo and address all forms of marginalization against women.
In the ecommerce ecosystem, Jumia has continued to champion women empowerment both internally and for sellers on the platform. Through partnerships training and capacity building programmes, Jumia has been able to impact female entrepreneurs.
The company also runs on policies that enable equal workplace and career growth opportunities. Female employees can be seen occupying top positions in the company hierarchy. Today, Juliet Anammah who was the Jumia Nigeria CEO, is the Chairwoman Jumia Nigeria and Head of Institutional Affairs Jumia Group.
For the 2021 IWD celebration, the ecommerce platform recognised Jumia “Sheroes” who work behind the scenes to ensure seamless and quality delivery of service to customers even in the peak of covid-19 pandemic. During total lockdown in 2020, the crucial role played by delivery agents cannot be overemphasized. But behind the scenes were several others, many of whom are women whose roles were vital to the sustenance of ecommerce business and delivery of essential services to customers.
One of such women is Yusuf Aminat Modupe who works in the inventory unit at the Jumia Warehouse in Lagos. She plays a vital role in the chain of activities. Modupe ensures that items are correctly stored in the right inventory location to enable the outbound unit to pick the right item for delivery. She was part of the Jumia Heroes on the frontline during the heat of Covid-19 lockdown. “My role was especially important when covid-19 started and many of our customers had to stay at home. It was challenging to come to work at such a time, but it was at the same time an honour,” she said.
Another female Jumia worker on the frontline was Neto Cherish, who works in the inbound unit in Jumia Warehouse. She’s in charge of quality control of items. “When covid-19 started last year, I was among those frontline workers who had to come to work to make sure that essential items got to our esteemed customers.”
The story of Modupe and Cherish mirrors that of several other women who sacrificed their comfort and risked their lives to ensure thousands of customers shop in safety. Such efforts deserve to be recognized and celebrated regardless of gender.
