MIT ranks Internet firm Jumia among world’s top 50 smartest companies

Corporate News

Jumia managing director Sam Chappatte (left) and Jumia House managing director Dan Kurua during a media briefing in Nairobi last month. PHOTO | FRANCIS NDERITU 

By DOREEN WAINAINAH

In Summary

• The Massachusetts Institute of Technology feted Jumia alongside other global firms such as Tesla, Huawei, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and IBM.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has named Internet company Jumia Group among the world’s 50 smartest companies.
MIT feted Jumia, formerly known as the Africa Internet Group (AIG), alongside other global firms such as Tesla, Huawei, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and IBM.

The group rebranded all its business units under the Jumia name last month in a bid to cash in on the popularity of the brand in Kenya and the region.

“Jumia Group is proud to be on this list, as it is great testimony to our relentless efforts in tapping into, and bringing to full potential Africa’s digital market,” said Sacha Poignonnec, co-founder of Jumia Group.

The Kenyan operations of Jumia are now ranked third in revenue generation in Africa behind Nigeria and Egypt, underlining the fact that online shopping is gaining currency in Kenya.

“This list draws a lot of attention to what new age companies are doing to capitalise on the digital possibilities brought forth by the Internet,” said Paul Midy, CEO for Jumia Travel.

Telecoms company Orange invested Sh8.5 billion in the group in April joining AXA, Goldman Sachs and longstanding investors MTN Group, Millicom and Rocket Internet as investors in the group. The financing was to accelerate the penetration of the group’s brands.

Axa paid €75 million for an eight per cent stake in the e-commerce group valued at $1 billion in February, with FT dubbing it Africa’s first unicorn.

“There are 151 so-called “unicorns” — private start-ups valued at $ 1 billion — across the globe, according to CBInsights, the venture capital database,” read an article by Financial Times.

READ: Africa Internet Group adopts Jumia name for its 9 online platforms

The Africa Internet Group was founded by German tech incubator Rocket Internet in 2012 and runs an array of e-commerce companies throughout Africa. Its flagship business is the online retailer Jumia.

It also owns a hotel booking portal and classified-ad marketplaces for cars and real estate.

Though, according to MIT, it is not yet profitable, investors view AIG as a way to access Africa’s developing online economy.

MIT Smartest Companies was first published in 2010 under the title, Most Innovative Companies. This year’s list mainly spread between Biotech, Computing & Telecommunication, Transportation and Internet & Digital Media.

Jumia Group operates in more than 26 countries in Africa, and employs about 5,500 personnel worldwide.

Among its nine ventures in Africa include leading online portal for hotels, Jumia Travel, real estate dealer Jumia House, online marketplace — Jumia Market, cars and automobile eMarket — Jumia Cars, the logistics arm, which has since taken the new brand, Jumia Services and online restaurant portal, Jumia Food.