By By Godfrey Olukya 5-4-2016
France based Orange mobile phone company has today announced the
acquisition of a 75 million-euro equity interest in Africa Internet
Group, joining AXA, Goldman Sachs and longstanding investors MTN
Group, Millicom and Rocket Internet.
a statement issued by orange said that through this investment, which
will be accompanied by a series of strategic partnerships between the
subsidiaries of the two groups, Orange will help Jumia and other
websites run by Africa Internet Group to accelerate their growth and
seize development opportunities in Africa.
Since Jumia’s creation in Nigeria in 2012, Africa Internet Group has
seen significant and continuous growth with ten online consumer
businesses operating today in 23 African countries, enabling more than
50,000 local and international companies to do business with African
consumers.
Jumia, the original platform, allows businesses to market their
products and services online to Africa’s emerging middle class. Other
services offered by Africa Internet Group include an e-commerce
marketplace (Kaymu), websites offering food delivery (Hellofood) and
hotel booking (Jovago), as well as online classified ads for general
merchandise (Vendito), real estate (Lamudi), jobs (Everjobs) and
vehicles (Carmudi).
This investment underscores Orange’s commitment to Africa, a
high-growth territory where nearly one in ten inhabitants is an Orange
customer, and confirms the Group’s determination to provide the best
digital services to its customers.
Stéphane Richard, Chairman and CEO of Orange, stated: “We are
particularly pleased to announce our entry into the capital of Africa
Internet Group. With this strategic investment, Orange now has the
capacity to play a leading role in the fast-growing e-commerce market
in Africa. This acquisition is combined with the signature of several
important partnership agreements that will create value for all
parties. In particular, across the twelve countries where we have a
common presence, this investment will enable us to significantly
develop our ability to market products and services developed by
Orange Middle East & Africa over the Internet. This operation,
initiated by our corporate investment fund Orange Digital Ventures, is
fully aligned with our strategic plan, Essentiels2020, particularly
with regards to our ambition to reinvent customer service, develop the
digital channels and services offered to customers as well as our
ambition to develop our activities in Africa and the Middle East.”
Sacha Poignonnec and Jeremy Hodara, founders and co-CEOs of Jumia and
Africa Internet Group, commented: “We are thrilled by Orange’s equity
investment and are eager to translate our strategic partnership into
unique offers for our customers. Jumia and our other online consumer
services give millions of African consumers an opportunity to access
and transact with local companies in a new and very convenient way.
With Orange’s support and expertise, combined with that of our
existing long-standing shareholders, we will be able to further
improve our service offerings and the customer experience while
continuing to invest in our infrastructure”.
END