Jumia got dumped, and AXIAN showed up with flowers. Rebound much?
It hasn’t been a week since Jumia’s largest investor, Baillie Gifford, dumped the last of its shares , since the startup’s fortune turned for good. AXIAN Telecom has acquired an 8% minority stake in the company.
According to AXIAN, the deal is about Jumia’s alignment with the telco’s core values.
AXIAN sees value in JumiaPay, Jumia’s fintech arm, its logistics network, and its achievement in Africa’s digital retail space, which places it in a unique position to promote financial and economic inclusion for the communities it serves.
Is AXIAN jumping on a sinking ship? Despite its pioneering status in African e-commerce, lately, Jumia has been busy clearing out its cart of back-to-back challenges. In addition to the recent pull-out of its largest investor and a 26% year-on-year decline in revenue in the first quarter of 2025, the company now competes with well-funded global players like Temu and Shein, which recently entered the African market. The company has since been cutting costs and tweaking its strategy. This recent acquisition by the pan-African telecoms provider will give Jumia a shot of confidence.
Blind faith, bold conviction, or something more? When someone has a destination, they take calculated risks. AXIAN isn’t seeing a shipwreck; it’s seeing an underpriced, sturdy vessel—betting on what Jumia could be, not what it currently is.
It leaves one wondering: Is AXIAN just investing? Or is this the start of something bigger, like a telco becoming a serious e-commerce player? The telco’s intent is bold, and if Jumia does make it to the other side, AXIAN will already be on board.
