Glovo to invest $60m more in Africa operations

Glovo, one of the world’s leading multi-category delivery platforms, is expanding its operations in Africa, to include Ghana and Tunisia, bringing its current operations to a total of seven countries on the continent.

Following the expansion, an estimated 6.5 million more people will be able to access Glovo’s app, as the company continues its mission to make everything, within all towns and cities, available to everyone.

Glovo’s investment in the region to date is worth a combined total of $30million and the company expects to invest an additional $60m 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 initially introduced operations in Accra, Ghana earlier this year, with the city of Tema following last month and it expects to launch in Tunis in Tunisia this October. 

Sacha Michaud, Co-founder of Glovo, in a statement to announce the expansion said “We couldn’t be more excited to be expanding our services in Africa, to be bringing Glovo to new cities in Ghana and launching in Tunisia.”

“Our vision is to give everyone easy access to anything in their city and our platform is at its best when it is connecting users and businesses, most of which are local restaurants and independent stores. We believe there’s a huge opportunity in these countries to help accelerate digitalisation and meet the rising demand for online shopping and deliveries, and we are working hand-in-hand with our local partners to market and deliver their goods to new users through the app,” he said.

William Benthall, Glovo’s General Manager of Sub-Saharan Africa, also said “Our expansion in Nigeria, Ghana and our upcoming launch in Tunisia is something we’ve been looking at for some time now, so it’s great to be able to make it official. 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 to our commitment to the continent.”

“We’re looking forward to making food, groceries, pharmaceuticals and retail products available to our new users at the touch of a button,” he added.