Jumia IPO Highlights Africa’s Shifting Online Travel Ecosystem
Skift Take
Jumia is one of a few companies that deserve credit for building nascent online travel businesses in several African markets. But as Google and other tech platforms gain a continent-wide presence, they may use their pervasiveness to play kingmakers in online travel.
Jumia, an e-commerce superapp based in Nigeria, debuted last Friday on the public markets and raised $196 million. The company mainly helps 80,000 active merchants sell goods in 14 countries on the continent. Some investors called it an “Amazon for Africa.”
Unlike Amazon, however, Jumia has made travel sales an essential part of its offering. Jumia, founded in Nigeria and backed initially by Germany’s Rocket Internet, aims to become a superapp. It wants consumers to use it often to buy items like diapers. The idea is to cross-sell these shoppers into buying more expensive products, namely travel. The company’s JumiaPay and Jumia One payment and loan services may appeal to a continent that broadly relies on cash to avoid hefty bank fees.
Yet the more interesting part of Jumia Travel's story is how it and its regional competitors have had to adapt to the distinctive local and regional nuances of Africa's various travel markets and economies.
Enthusiasm Versus Realism
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