And so, Jumia’s decade-long evolution moves fully into its next phase. Originally positioned as a retail-focused, e-commerce behemoth, similar to Amazon’s original positioning, Jumia has morphed into a B2B (business to business) facilitator of third-party e-commerce through its marketplace, payments service and logistics network.

But in many ways the “Amazon of Africa” moniker is still relevant for Jumia’s journey. Amazon famously ran up losses for its first 17 quarters as a public company and even after it turned profitable only provided investors with a modest return for many years. But today its most profitable arm is its B2B Amazon Web Services business which hosts many huge clients including Netflix, LinkedIn and Twitch.

As Jumia losses begin to narrow, it’s a path the company’s leadership seem set on. With the business continuing to focus on vendor commissions and fulfillment revenues which now account for 70% of its marketplace income, first party revenue (i.e. revenue from merchandise bought and sold by Jumia) dropped by 53% year on year in the third quarter of 2020.

The sharp decline was not accidental: “This was in line with our strategy to undertake fewer sales on a first party basis as we focus on running an asset light marketplace model where third-party sellers offer consumers an expanding range of products and services,” its earnings report read.

Sign up to the Quartz Africa Weekly Brief here for news and analysis on African business, tech, and innovation in your inbox

📬 Sign up for the Daily Brief

Our free, fast, and fun briefing on the global economy, delivered every weekday morning.