GHANA – Glovo, a Spanish delivery startup is embarking on a key expansion drive in Ghana to ensure that its services are available to other parts of the country apart from Accra and Tema.

The initiative is expected to see an injection of €3.5 million (US$4m) into the country by the company this year, according to reports by Business Insider.

The announcement comes months after Glovo revealed it would invest an additional €50 million (US$60 million) over the next 12 months to drive expansion into more cities on the continent and move into new markets in Africa.

Prior to that, the company had invested €25 million (US$30 million) to bring its food delivery service to six African countries — Morocco, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria.

According to Co-Founder of Glovo, Sacha Michaud, the expansion works will begin with the opening of Glovo’s operations in the Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi before the end of the year.

The company entered the Ghanaian market in March this year and hopes to build on its success which according to Sacha has been fuelled by a steady rise in orders, with its quick grocery service being its fastest-growing unit.

According to him, the order growth of Glovo Ghana services ranged between 30 and 45 per cent month-to-month since the company commenced operations in the West African country.

“The value of our orders month-on-month stand at half a million euros (US$582,000), and it is envisaged to grow between 1 and 1.5 million euros (US$1.16m – US$1.75m) next year,” he said.

He added that Glovo Ghana was working with about 400 partners in Accra, such as pharmacies, groceries and restaurants.

“About 90 per cent of our partners are Small and Medium-scale Enterprises,” he said, adding that the company had more than 500 fleets Week-on-Week.

The on-demand platform is expected to use the expansion drive to employ more youth and local partners to support the economy.

General Manager of Glovo Ghana, Pearlyn Budu, assured that the company would increase the use of local materials in its operations as part of the target. According to her, this is aimed at increasing revenue for local artisans in the industry.

“Currently, we have an opportunity to invest more in local materials because, for instance, the bags we use in the delivery service is being imported, but we want to transition into local sourcing so that the local producers can also earn something from the operations. So it’s a part of the long term growth agenda,” she said.

Ghana is a very exciting market not only for Glovo, but other retail business operations moving faster in terms of business growth and also the government believes in digitalisation especially for the SME sector.

Liked this article? Subscribe to Food Business Africa News, our regular email newsletters with the latest news insights from Africa and the World’s food and agro industry. SUBSCRIBE HERE