The growing e-commerce industry in Nigeria and Africa at large has been one with amazing stories of success. In what once could have been seen as a market with no such opportunities, Africa has now become the hub and target of many e-commerce start-up incubators and venture capitalists all over the world. It is for this reason Rocket Internet, a Germany-based e-commerce start-up incubator, has ramped up its operations at Jumia in some of its emerging markets across Africa, including Nigeria.
This move has seen Summit Partners, a growth equity firm that invests in rapidly growing companies, has invested $26 million in the Jumia brand across Nigeria, Egypt and Morocco, with new funds tailored for setting up more ventures across the African sub-region.
“We seek to invest in companies around the world that build long-term value,” said Scott Collins, managing director/head of the Summit Partners London office, in a statement. “Jumia has established itself as a fast-growing company early on, and we are pleased to partner its management team.
“As Nigeria’s leading online retailer, jumia.com.ng plays big within the Nigerian market, with a vision to being the solution to online retail in sub-Saharan Africa. As a place for direct retail shopping online, we implement 24-hour availability, a local and global reach, with the ability to interact and provide custom information and ordering, as well as multimedia prospects,” according to co-founders Raphael Afaedor and Tunde Kehinde, speaking about their brand Jumia Nigeria.
They continue, “It is a no brainer for these investors to want to invest in this market, with its growing middle class and an increasing demand for goods. We have risen to become the 5th largest local content site (according to web research site, Alexa.com), with our order volumes increased significantly we are the largest e-commerce player in this market.”
Reacting to Jumia Nigeria’s new investment, both agree, “In addition to earlier investment by JP Morgan asset management, the investment by Summit Partners is a significant investment for our organisation to feel confident and grow the business and having a really scalable large platform for a long time.
“We are excited to be joined by Summit Partners, a new investor that shares our aspirations for Africa’s e-commerce, this investment allows us to offer new categories of products, strengthen our operations, deliver to our customers even faster, and recruit the best talent.”
One can’t help but wonder what the way forward is from here, as even in such short time Jumia Nigeria has not failed to deliver on their service offering. Adding to this, Afam Anyika, public relations manager, had this to say, “It’s an exciting time for our customers, as this means more assortments of goods in addition to our already vast selection of goods, improved service delivery, and an assurance that at Jumia they are rest assured that the best hands are always there to provide the best-in-class service.” Jumia was established as a result of the trend surrounding networking, with the increase in demands and market penetration in the country presently.
Tunde Kehinde, the co-founder with Raphael Afaedor explained the size of Jumia at present when they said: “We have 12000 square feet warehouse, excellent customer service team, and 200,000 fans on social media. What makes us different from other retail shops is that we have the largest assortment in the country, we have over 3,000 products in Jumia today, we have about 20,000 books, numerous fashion items, and also we are really offering a wide and fantastic approach to our business.”
There are thousands of quality products and brands that can be gotten at affordable price on Jumia, which can be delivered to your doorstep when ordered for flexible payment options that could be via cash e-payment, visa card and so on.
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