Jumia announces appointment of Vinod Goel as Regional CEO for East Africa

Vinod will manage both Kenya and Uganda as direct CEO. He takes over the mantle from Charles Ballard for Kenya business. 

During his tenure as Jumia Uganda CEO, Vinod turned the business around, both in terms of significant top line growth and achieving sharp unit economics. 

The appointment of Vinod is in line with Jumia’s strategy of developing senior CEOs in key regional markets.

Speaking on his appointment, Vinod said: "I'm deeply honored and excited to lead Jumia’s operations in Kenya and Uganda during this exciting phase of growth. Our commitment to delivering an innovative, convenient, and affordable online shopping experience remains unwavering."

"Additionally, we are dedicated to fostering more brand partnerships with both local and global companies. We are witnessing huge interest from global brands such as Starlink, to be their sole partner and new brands to launch their products overnight in the whole country," he added.

Vinod started with Jumia in 2020 as Head Global Fulfillment Operations, overseeing operations across all Jumia markets.

He played a pivotal role in making Jumia shipping faster, cheaper and double the size in one and a half years.

In 2022 he became the Chief Executive Officer overseeing the expansion and deployment of Jumia Uganda where he successfully turned the business around. 

Prior to Jumia, Vinod worked in Strategy, Finance and Supply Chain with Lafarge Group, a French conglomerate, and was based in Europe, Asia and Africa. He has also worked as a software engineer in India earlier in his professional career. 

Vinod earned a B.S. in Engineering and also holds a dual MBA degree from MDI Gurgaon in India and ESCP Europe in London.