#2: Jumia - From Rocket Internet to Unicorn IPO. What’s next for the ‘Amazon of Africa’?

Overview: Today we’re going to talk about Jumia - The largest ecommerce player in Africa. We’ll discuss its founding, seminal points in its history, eventual 2019 IPO & Jumia's future outlook. This episode was recorded on May 3, 2020. Companies discussed: Jumia, Africa Internet Holding (Africa Internet Group), Rocket Internet, Kasuwa, Sabunta, Konga, Naspers, Takealot, Kaymu (Jumia Travel), Hello Food (Jumia Food), Lamudi (Jumia House) & Carmudi (Jumia Cars) Business concepts discussed: E-commerce, Payments, Logistics, Retail, Marketplaces, Revenue growth vs profitability, Stock short-selling & IPOs Conversation highlights: (1:00) - E-Commerce and Retail context in African markets (2:20) -  What is Jumia? Businesses, Numbers (4:35) - Jumia Founding and History (5:45) - Rocket Internet and Jumia (12:30) - Jumia Fundraising rounds and transition to Jumia Group (12:40) - Konga story relative to Jumia (15:50) - Jumia IPO (17:12) - Citron report, J-Force agents & returns (21:47) - Post IPO decline and lockup (23:20) - Shifting focus to Jumia Pay & Rocket Internet divestment (25:00) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook (35:00) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook Olumide’s recommendations & small wins: Recommendation: Dangal (directed by Nitesh Tiwari) Recommendation: Upheaval (by Jared Diamond)   Bankole’s recommendations & small wins: Recommendation: The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution (by Gregory Zuckerman) Recommendation: The Halo Effect: ... and the Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers (by Philip M. Rosenzweig) Other content mentioned: Most popular sites in Nigeria (Alexa ranking) We’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback, topics you’d like to hear, or just want to say hello, please email [email protected] Join our mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes at Afrobility.com