Jumia Becomes First African Firm To Be Listed On New York Stock Exchange

Pan-African e-commerce platform, Jumia Technologies, has officially announced its listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

The listing on the NYSE happened Friday in New York, USA, with shares beginning trading at $14.50 under ticker symbol JMIA.

By the listing, Jumia became the first startup from Africa to list on a major global exchange.

The company indicated it was offering 13,500,000 ADR shares for an opening price spread of $13 to $16 per share, representing 17.6 per cent of all company shares. The IPO could raise up to $216 million for the internet venture, Guardian writes.

Founded in 2012, Jumia started a mission to improve the quality of everyday life in Africa by leveraging technology to deliver innovative, convenient and affordable online services to consumers.

Jumia further empowers businesses to grow by using its platform to reach and serve consumers across the continent.

Jumia is currently active in Nigeria and 13 African countries with more than 8,000 active sellers transacting online with millions of consumers. The e-commerce platform directly employs more than 5,000 team members in Africa.

The IPO creates another milestone for Jumia after it became the first African startup unicorn in 2016, achieving a $1 billion valuation after a funding round that included Goldman Sachs, AXA and MTN.

Co-founders and co-chief executives, Sacha Poignonnec and Jeremy Hodara, said: “This achievement has been made possible thanks to the hard work of our teams, the trust of our consumers, as well as the commitment of our sellers and partners. All stakeholders deserve credit for this milestone, and we are just at the beginning of a long and great journey. We are going to continue to focus on our mission and to work even harder to help consumers, sellers, partners and all stakeholders benefit from this technological revolution.”

Meanwhile, sources close to Konga have also revealed that the firm is set for a major listing on either the London Stock Exchange or New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) by the last quarter of 2020.

It was gathered that Mark Jessey, a prominent stock analyst on the NYSE, had hinted of the strong possibility of a Konga IPO before the end of next year, a move which, according to him, is a much sought-after one by investors.