Mastercard jumps on the Jumia bandwagon

In spite of the fact that it is heading towards an IPO (see our previous story), internet retailer Jumia is set to receive a USD50 million investment from payment services provider Mastercard in a private placement. Mastercard will also partner with Jumia to help the latter “grow its operations.”
While details of their collaboration were not disclosed, Mastercard and Jumia noted in a joint statement that “between 65% and 95% of all orders [made on Jumia] are paid using cash on delivery” and that they intended to”to drive cash out of the online retail sector and provide a more secure and convenient way for consumers to shop online.”
The Mastercard deal comes less than three months after an investment in Jumia by Franch alcoholic drinks group Pernod Ricard (click here for more details). These two deals bode well for Jumia’s upcoming IPO – it is planning to sell 13.5 million American Depositary Shares priced at between USD13 and USD16, which could raise up to USD216 million.
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