Pan-African e-commerce firm with footprints in Kenya, Jumia has filed an Initial Public Offer (IPO) at New York Stock Exchange.
Although documents filed at the US Security Exchange Commission (SEC) as seen by the Star did not reveal the anticipated offer date, the firm is likely to become the first African tech startup to list on a major global exchange.
The Nigeria based online market place formed in April 2013 launched in Kenya in 2014, empowering small, medium and large business enterprises by allowing them to sell their products directly to the company’s large customer base.
Jumia Kenya continues to dominate Kenya’s e-commerce sector and is seen as a pace setter for both local and international online market place brands entering the country.
Jumia’s rivals in Kenya include Masoko by Safaricom and Kilimall which launched in 2017 and 2016 respectively.
According to the Geopoll BlackFridayStraw Poll of December 2017, Jumia remains the most preferred ecommerce vendor in Africa.
The poll interviewed 2,031 respondents in Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya, and showed 56 per cent of respondents have shopped on Jumia.
In 2017, Jumia reported an 80 per cent year on year growth despite recording a decrease in gross profit from € 30.2 million (Sh3.4 billion) in 2016 to € 27 million (Sh3.05 billion).
The company is expected to announce it’s financial for 2018/19 next month, the second time since its inception. In December last year, United Nations Conference on the Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Business-to-Consumer E-commerce Index described Africa’s e-commence sector as sleeping giant failed by poor internet penetration.
Speaking during the Africa e-Commerce Week held in Nairobi, UNCTAD secretary general Mukhisa Kituyi said the continent trails behind the rest of the world in its preparedness to engage in and benefit from the digital economy as three-quarters of the African population is yet to start using the Internet.
