MTN is online marketplace for fashion and electronics Jumia's largest shareholder.
On 12 April, the Nigerian online marketplace for fashion and electronics Jumia Technologies, previously known as Africa Internet Group, listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company’s shares rose 71.4 percent, marking a very successful first day for a listing.
Ralph Mupita, CFO at MTN, the largest shareholder of Jumia, commented on the success, saying that it was “a landmark achievement”.
Read more: Lessons for doing e-commerce in Africa from Jumia's New York Listing
Jumia was founded by French entrepreneurs Sacha Poignonnec and Jeremy Hodara in 2012.
As at 31 December last year, the company (often billed as the "Amazon of Africa") had four million active customers. Its online marketplace platform connects its 81,000 sellers with consumers in 14 African countries.
Jumia said it was pinning hope on an e-commerce boom in Africa to drive future growth, even though online shopping is still at a nascent stage in the continent.
“The listing of Jumia has been part of the portfolio review strategy we announced with the 2018 MTN Group financial results in March 2019, to simply the portfolio, reduce risk and improve returns,” Ralph said.
MTN is also working towards the listing by introduction of the group’s Nigeria business in May 2019.
