Chinese cuisine is increasing in popularity in Africa's online platforms amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Africa's e-commerce platform, Jumia said on Thursday.

Shreenal Ruparelia, chief commercial officer of Jumia Food Africa, told journalists in Nairobi that consumption of foreign cuisines is growing fast as Africans explore various meals available to them.

"It is part of the discovery as more consumers move online and try new cuisines," Ruparelia said during the launch of the Africa Food Index report.

The report which was launched on the eve of the World Food Day shares food trends impacted this year by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jumia Food is one of the most used online food delivery services with the widest geographical reach in Africa and operating in several countries.

She noted that Chinese foods are enjoyable to Africans and they are easily available on mobile applications.

Ruparelia observed that residents of the continent are very keen to explore foods from other regions of the world and hence foreign cuisines are gaining more popularity.

She said that one of the key determinants of increased demand for food from the Asian nation is the growing number of Chinese restaurants that are opening up.

Ruparelia noted that the growing Chinese population in Africa also plays a role in increasing awareness of Chinese food on the continent.

According to the Africa food index report, Nairobi is the leading city across Africa for online food delivery, followed by Casablanca (Morocco), Lagos (Nigeria) Kampala (Uganda) and Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire).

The findings indicate that Kenya leads in online food purchases due to its high mobile internet penetration with urban, young and technology savvy people constituting its largest segment of consumers. Enditem