Priscilla Muhiu, Glovo’s Head of Marketing for Sub Sahara Africa, said that the partnership will mostly benefit consumers of Glovo’s service and Simbisa’s products. “This partnership means a lot not only to us but also our customers. Glovo is constantly innovating thus we are always keen to onboard more outlets so as to improve the product offering we give to our customers based on their preferences,” said Mrs. Muhiu. “Simbisa Brands operates a rich portfolio of food and eateries spread across different locations in Nairobi, and this partnership with Simbisa, therefore, will help us achieve our broader strategy of being a one-stop shop for all our customer needs and deliveries,” she added. “Partnering with Glovo will facilitate an increase in our consumer base. We believe this will have an impact on the business and improve our service delivery as part of our quest to always satisfy consumer demands,” said Joseph Claver, Simbisa Brands’ Head of Business Development. The app’s unique value proposition allows consumers to order virtually anything that can fit on the back of a motorbike for delivery. In Africa, Glovo currently operates in Kenya, Morocco and Cote d’Ivoire with plans to expand to Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania. The Barcelona-based startup launched in Kenya, Ghana and Egypt but has since exited the Egyptian market to focus on Spain, Italy, Portugal, France, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru among others. Glovo’s on-demand mobile application was founded in 2015 by Oscar Pierre and Sacha Michaud in Barcelona and has raised over 170 M Euros and is working with restaurants, grocery shops, super Markets, Gifts, Pharmacies, and Courier firms. The platform’s features include geolocation, which allows customers to track their deliveries in real time and locate the nearest glover (courier), thus optimizing speed and distance. Recently, Glovo shut down its operations in Egypt where it was operating in Cairo and Alexandria after less than a year of operations. Just like in Kenya, Glovo’s orders were 80 percent food deliveries and its biggest competition was local player Delivery Hero which owns a 16 percent stake in Glovo after an Italian deal. According to sources, Glovo let go of its 40 plus employees in Egypt who were mostly working in customer care positions. Unlike Egypt, Kenya has no strong food delivery logistics platform as food ordering is not as high as other markets. Glovo also shut its operations in Chile and sources claim it might have been an agreement with its minority shareholder Delivery Hero which runs PedidosYa, a Chilean firm it acquired in 2014. Though Glovo might not exit the Kenyan market soon, reaching a critical mass in the food delivery business in Nairobi alone will not sustain it and it will need years of toiling and will burn loads of cash to recruit users to turn revenue positive. However, it won’t be a surprise if Glovo quits the market after a year or two of operations.
