Ozioma Ubabukoh
French telecommunications company,
Orange, says it will invest €75m (N1.6tn) in Nigerian e-commerce group,
the Africa Internet Group.
The AIG owns several technology firms
across 26 African countries, including online retailer, Jumia; a
delivery app, HelloFood; hotel booking platform, Jovago; and online real
estate marketplace, Lamudi.
The development emerged more than one
month after Goldman Sachs, the MTN Group and Germany’s Rocket Internet
invested N48bn in the company.
The Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer, Orange, Stephane Richard, in a joint statement with AIG, said,
“With this strategic investment, Orange now has the capacity to play a
leading role in the fast-growing e-commerce market in Africa.
“This investment will enable us to
significantly develop our ability to market products and services
developed by Orange Middle East and Africa over the Internet.”
Orange had said last week that it
planned to grow in Africa, among other regions, after its talks to buy
French peer, Bouygues Telecom, collapsed.
“We are thrilled by Orange’s equity
investment and are eager to translate our strategic partnership into
unique offers for our customers,” AIG founders and co-CEOs, Sacha
Poignonnec and Jeremy Hodara, said.
Poignonnec and Hodara said that the
funds would significantly strengthen the balance sheet of AIG, enabling
the company to leverage the significant growth of Jumia and other AIG
subsidiaries, and to capitalise on the significant opportunities in
Africa.
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