"African Amazon" Jumia makes Wall Street debut

By

Matthieu Guinebault

Published
Apr 15, 2019

Nigerian e-commerce platform Jumia, which counts Rocket Internet and Pernod Ricard among its shareholders, launched its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange on April 12, a first for an African startup. Now valued at $1.9 billion, the company has raised $200 million to fund its development.

Jumia, whose flagship products are electronics, phones and fashion, currently operates in its native Nigeria, but also in Algeria, Egypt, Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda, as well as Cameroon, Kenya, Ghana, Morocco and Senegal. Launched in 2012, the platform has already completed a series of funding rounds totaling several million dollars. Following its IPO, the company's shares jumped 75% to $25.46 from $14.50 at launch. 

The "African Amazon" reported $147.5 million in revenues last year, a 40% increase year over year, having recorded around $10 million in transactions (up 63%) in 2018. The company's management claims that the site has over 4 million active users and 81,000 sellers. 

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Originally founded by Africa Internet Group, Jumia's largest stockholders are currently South African telecommunications group MTN, which owns 30% of the platform's capital, German digital startup studio Rocket Internet (21%) and Luxembourg's Millicom (10%).