Both are barely two years old in Nigeria, but the cold war brewing between the nation’s foremost online retailers, Jumia and Konga, is threatening to hit the court room.

Owned by Berlin-based Rocket Internet, Jumia Nigeria opened its e-commerce operations in 2012. It has since risen to become a major player in online retail shopping in Nigeria. The company says it now controls 70 per cent of the Nigerian online retail market and has dealt with close to a million customers since it began operations.

One month after Jumia Nigeria launched, Konga.com began its operations to tap into the largely untapped Nigerian online retail shopping. The company currently describes itself as “Nigeria’s largest online mall.”

Disputed domain names

After commencing its Nigeria operations in June 2012 and just before Konga launched, Rocket Internet proceeded to register about 10 domain names related to Konga outside Nigeria, a move the Konga management said was designed to “stifle” its growth outside Nigeria.

The domain names, registered by one Arnt Jeschke on behalf of Rocket Internet, include konga.cd (Cote d’Ivoire); konga.cm (Cameroun); konga.ly(Libya); konga.ma (Mauritius); konga.mu (Morocco); konga.mw (Malawi); konga.sc (Seychelles); konga.sh (Saint Helena); konga.co.ke (Kenya); and konga.co.za (South Africa).

Written by Ben Ezeamalu/Read more at Premium Times