Nigeria's Jumia Technologies becomes first African technology company to trade on New York Stock Exchange

NIGERIA'S Jumia Technologies has become the first ever African technological firm to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) after it began trading yesterday with an opening price of $14.50 per share.

Jumia Technologies, the largest e-commerce operator in Africa, has taken its operations global and yesterday, it was well received by investors as its stock ended the day trading at a high of $25.46 per share. Founded in Lagos in 2012, the company's initial public offering (IPO) surged more than 75% on its first day of trading on the NYSE in what was a very promising start.

Juliet Anammah, the chief executive of Jumia Nigeria, was present to ring a ceremonial bell when the company’s stock began trading on the NYSE floor. Alex Ibrahim, the head of International Capital Markets at the NYSE, said that Jumia Technologies listed as an African technology company on the stock exchange.

He added: “We are very excited about Africa because what we saw here today was amazing. This company priced extremely well, traded up largest volumes.

“So, that showed the interests by investors not only very large institutions but even the retails here in the US, the dynamics was extremely impressive. We are expecting to see other companies from the region in different segments of the tech space to potentially consider US listing.”

Lisette Kwong, a spokeswoman for Intercontinental Exchange at the NYSE, added: “Last night before the stock opened, it was set at the price of $14.50. The opening price was $18.95 and then it closed at the end of the day at $25.25, so, it was really great.”

Mr Ibrahim said: “The interests by the US investors was extremely strong so I’m assuming that investors will continue to look into Jumia because they provide the vehicle to tap into the region that is growing. It also provides access to US investors to buy these products that actually mirrors the growth of the region."

He added that Jumia chose to list on the NYSE as against Nasdaq, which was usual for  traditional technology companies because it saw the benefits. He said the NYSE had more volatility than its competitor Nasdaq and provides more visibility, certainty of execution and when companies do transactions, they trade very well.