African e-commerce start-up Jumia has finally debuted on the New York Stock Exchange.
Jumia listed 17.6% of its shares at $14.50 a share as it hopes to rake in more investments to expand.
The company which is now the first African start-up to list on the New York Stock Exchange will have access to a larger pool of investors and global visibility.
Officials of Jumia said on Friday that they hope to raise $196m for shareholders and for future investment.
The company operates in 14 African countries but has it’s headquarters in Nigeria. In 2016 it became the first African startup to hit a $1bn valuation.
Jumia has four million active consumers on its digital platform as at 2018.
Founded by two French entrepreneurs in 2012, Jumia is also the largest shareholder is MTN, Africa’s biggest telecoms company.
What Jumia does?
Jumia has operational footprint in 14 countries. It is popular in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Algeria, Angola, and Senegal.
The company on its digital platform sells anything from electronics to clothes. It also has hotel and flight booking sites as well as food delivery platform.
The company’s sales jumped by almost 40% last year to $147.3m and is considered ‘Africa’s Amazon’.
But Jumia is yet to be profitable with analysts saying it has accumulated losses of almost $1bn since it started operating.
Source: Africafeeds.com
