Also known as the Alibaba or Amazon of Africa, Jumia is the first African tech start-up to list on the New York Stock Exchange, where it has debuted with a 33% increase valuing the company around 1.5 billion dollars.
During the first negotiations, the e-tailer – now joining the “unicorns” on NYSE – offered 13.5 million shares for an opening price of $ 14.50 per share, then raised up to $ 19.
Founded in 2012 by Sacha Poignonnec and Jeremy Hodara, Jumia is based in Lagos, Nigeria and Berlin. It is active in 14 African countries, where it sells products from over 40 thousand suppliers to more than 4 million customers per year. In 2018, the company reported 550 million visitors, and delivered over 13 million packages.
Among its many investors, Jumia counts prestigious names like Rocket Internet, the first to believe in the potential of the platform, Mtn (Africa’s largest telecom and mobile company), Orange and Goldman Sachs.
Besides selling clothing items, accessories, beauty articles, high-tech devices and products from various other sectors, Jumia also delivers a series of wide-ranging services ̶ meals on wheels, flight and stay bookings, and online shopping in collaboration with Carrefour.
Online sales in Africa have reached 16.5 billion dollars (as per 2017 data), and they are expected to grow up to 29 billions by 2022.
