Orange has today announced the acquisition of a €75 Million Equity Interest in Africa Internet Group. Africa Internet Group has a number of companies under its belt including Jumia, Kaymu, Jovago, Lamudi and HelloFood.
With this announcement, Orange joins other companies such as AXA, Goldman Sachs, MTN Group, Millicom and Rocket Internet as the investors behind AIG. With this partnership, there will be strategic partnerships between the subsidiaries of the two companies with Orange helping Jumia and the other websites under Africa Internet Group to accelerate their growth and seize development opportunities in Africa.
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.”
Jumia has been enjoying steady growth in Kenya since it started its operations about three years ago but the rise of other platforms such as Kilimall have really put pressure on the company. The company is particularly finding it difficult to attract big brands to use the platform and hopefully this new partnership might help it get the money and resources to rise above competition.
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”.
Read: Jumia and AXA partner to provide insurance products and services to African customers
