Africa's
leading e-commerce platform Jumia wins $325m funding from French, German, South
African and US companies
Africa's
leading e-commerce platform Jumia says it has won funding of more than $325
million from French, German, South African and US companies
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Africa's leading
e-commerce platform Jumia has won funding of more than $325 million from
French, German, South African and U.S. companies eager to invest in one of the
world's fastest-growing online economies, it said Thursday.
The investment boosts the value of
parent company Africa Internet Group to nearly $1.1 billion and follows a
blockbuster 2015 that saw overall revenues increase 282 percent in one of
Africa's fast-growing online consumer markets.
The funding comes from U.S. investment
bankers Goldman Sachs, French insurance multinational AXA, German startup
Rocket Internet and a long-time backer, South African telecommunications giant
MTN.
Jumia was founded in Nigeria in 2012
to provide a platform for local African businesses to sell products online and
has expanded to 11 African countries. Africa Internet Group's activities have
grown to 71 companies operating in 26 countries with an Uber-like service, Easy
Taxi, and online marketplaces for travel, real estate, jobs and food delivery.
The company has yet to show a profit
but said it plans to use the investment to improve current operations and
expand into more countries.
Rocket Internet CEO Oliver Samwer
called Jumia "a proven winner." Jules Frebault, an executive director
at Goldman Sachs, said the company is uniquely positioned "to play a
leading role in the development of Africa's online economy."
Only 19 percent of people in
sub-Saharan Africa have access to the Internet though the numbers are higher in
Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation where some 60 million of the 160 million
people are connected, according to a study published in February by Facebook
and Analysys Mason, a telecommunications expert.
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The Associated
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