Mastercard has expressed its intention to become a shareholder in Jumia, a pan-African e-commerce platform, in order to grow e-commerce operations and support the digital transformation in Africa.
In a statement announcing the partnership on Friday, the companies said the investment was subject to certain conditions, which were not stated.
The statement revealed that Jumia and Mastercard first partnered in 2016 with the successful launch of Mastercard Payment Gateway Solutions in several markets and launch of JumiaPay, the payment service of the Jumia platform that facilitates transactions for consumers and sellers.
Under the new agreement, the two companies said they would look to build on Mastercard’s presence across Africa, bringing its deep knowledge and expertise in payment solutions and technologies to spark new innovations and spur development in new customer segments.
As part of the deal, the companies said they had also agreed to build on their current efforts to accelerate the adoption of electronic payment platforms among consumers and merchants.
The co-Chief Executive Officer, Jumia, Sacha Poignonnec, said, “We are delighted to strengthen our existing partnership with Mastercard and consolidate Jumia’s position as the leading e-commerce platform in Africa.
This investment highlights the strategic synergies between the two companies, as we both seek to develop the payments ecosystem and drive financial inclusion across Africa.”
The Executive Vice-President, Market Development, Middle East and Africa at Mastercard, Elcin Yanik, said, “Mastercard has been rapidly expanding its presence and partnerships in Africa, bringing new technologies to the continent that help to enhance the consumer experience and enable greater access and inclusion.
This partnership with Jumia underpins Mastercard’s commitment to transforming Africa’s digital payments landscape.
In recent years, we have invested heavily in technology, people and local markets, and have seen tremendous growth in online payments in particular.
We look forward to working with Jumia to enhance the region’s digital infrastructure and ecosystem.”
This is coming a few weeks after Jumia filed for an Initial Public Offering at the New York Stock Exchange.
According to the papers submitted for its filing, the e-commerce company said the public listing will assist it to raise funds.
It was gathered that the IPO would value Jumia at about $1.5bn and it would trade under JMIA on the NYSE.
The largest shareholder in Jumia, MTN Group, also plans to sell its shares in the company to raise about $600m to pay down debt.
It was gathered that banks leading the IPO include Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc, Berenberg and RBC Capital Markets.
