AXIAN Telecom Invests More in Jumia, Acquires More Shares As Stakeholders
The most recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission states that AXIAN bought more shares on Friday, increasing its position from 8%. In addition to being a financial transaction, this investment is a resounding endorsement of Jumia’s operational discipline, updated strategic direction, fintech potential through JumiaPay, and increasing prominence in the continent’s digital and e-commerce markets. Given Jumia’s increased focus on marketplace expansion, efficient logistics, and reliable supply, AXIAN’s participation puts the business in a stronger position to integrate into the market and have a bigger influence on the rapidly changing digital environment of the continent.
A tech-driven e-commerce platform with extensive market understanding and a telecom and digital services conglomerate with a rising presence throughout Africa are joined by AXIAN’s admission into Jumia’s shareholder base. This collaboration opens up a lot of possibilities, such as better last-mile delivery driven by enhanced connectivity and payment infrastructure, mobile commerce integration, and data-driven customer interaction.
In a statement released in conjunction with the agreement, Hassan Jaber, CEO of AXIAN Telecom, stated that the business is “supportive of Jumia’s strategic vision” characterising Jumia’s finance, retail, and logistics capabilities as vital forces behind financial and economic inclusion throughout the continent.
Significantly, Jumia has been positioned as a payment facilitator for wider digital use cases rather than only a merchant platform by AXIAN, which has also indicated its intention to investigate the use of JumiaPay, Jumia’s payment gateway, within its fintech ecosystem. This provides strong support for JumiaPay’s role as the backbone of Africa’s digital economy, enabling merchant payments and more. A strategic investor like AXIAN’s backing of Jumia as it develops into a more efficient and sustainable enterprise shows that serious, long-term players believe in Jumia’s mission and Africa’s e-commerce potential.
However, it is expedient to know that much of this resurgence of trust is based on Jumia’s performance in Nigeria, its biggest market. Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) increased 20% year over year, while orders in Nigeria increased 22%, according to the company’s Q1 2025 earnings. These figures highlight both user engagement and operational performance in a challenging macroeconomic climate.
This momentum follows a robust 2024 in which, despite inflationary headwinds and a declining value of the naira, Jumia reportedly achieved high double-digit growth in Nigeria in constant currency. Order volumes and active consumers increased dramatically in 2024, according to a former executive with knowledge of the company’s operations in Nigeria. The Executive also stated that “Nigerians are clearly seeing value in Jumia’s services, the model is proving resilient and relevant.”
This statistic available to BrandSpur news brand, highlights the platform’s long-term role in Nigeria’s commerce ecosystem, not only for urban consumers but also for small enterprises and informal sellers who are using the platform’s infrastructure and reach, as well as customers in underprivileged areas.
Jumia is taking advantage of one of the most promising trends: social commerce. In an informal retail market dominated by Instagram and WhatsApp vendors, Jumia is constructing digital rails that enable social sellers to expand their consumer base and take advantage of last-mile delivery services. For young businesses and female entrepreneurs in particular, this is empowering. The company’s delivery growth is changing how small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) function in addition to enhancing the customer experience.
Jumia’s cost-effective nationwide logistics are helping Nigerian companies expand outside their local communities, boosting local economies and closing the digital divide. In the past two years, the company has refocused its operations, pulling out of underperforming markets, streamlining its product line, and concentrating on key areas where it anticipates long-term growth.
Improved unit economics, a more transparent path to profitability, and five straight quarters of higher Gross Profit After Fulfilment. A shift from a growth-at-all-costs paradigm to an emphasis on creating a tech-driven, sustainable ecosystem that genuinely fits the African setting is indicative of maturity in the company’s new path. From a straightforward marketplace, Jumia is developing into a digital platform that facilitates payments, logistics, entrepreneurship, and trade.
Those who are aware of the intricacies of constructing in Africa are encouraged by this vision of an Africa-centred, mobile-first commerce infrastructure, which has drawn partners like AXIAN.
Jumia’s journey is not a short-term gamble; rather, it exemplifies the tenacity, inventiveness, and cooperative expansion that characterise Africa’s next economic frontier.
