Jumia has raised $50 million in fresh equity from a group of investors led by the International Finance Corporation, giving Africa’s e-commerce company additional capital as it pushes toward profitability.
The financing includes a $25 million investment from IFC, the World Bank Group’s private-sector arm, with Axian and other investors providing the remaining $25 million. Investors agreed to purchase about 9.1 million new American Depositary Shares at $5.52 each, according to regulatory filings.
The funding comes as Jumia’s turnaround begins to show results. Revenue rose 14% year-on-year to $52 million in the second quarter, while gross merchandise value increased 20% to $216.3 million. Gross profit rose 28% to $30.7 million.
More importantly, the company continues to reduce its losses. Jumia’s adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed 36% to $8.7 million from $13.6 million a year earlier, while its operating loss fell 25% to $12.4 million.
Jumia is targeting adjusted EBITDA breakeven and positive cash flow in the fourth quarter of 2026, followed by full-year profitability in 2027.
The new capital gives the company more room to pursue those targets. Jumia ended June with $48.3 million in liquidity, down from $62.6 million at the end of March, after using $11.8 million in operating cash during the second quarter.
Jumia plans to use the proceeds to support growth in its core African markets, improve operational efficiency and strengthen its marketplace and logistics infrastructure.
The company has spent the past several years scaling back from an aggressive pan-African expansion strategy that consumed cash. It has exited markets including South Africa, Tunisia and Algeria, cut costs and focused its resources on eight core African markets.
That restructuring is now producing stronger operating metrics. Quarterly active customers reached 2.6 million, while physical-goods orders rose to 6.3 million. Adjusted for markets Jumia has exited, orders increased 28% year-on-year.
Nigeria was among the strongest markets during the quarter, with GMV rising 36% and orders increasing 34%.
International commerce is also becoming a larger part of Jumia’s marketplace. Orders from international sellers increased 96% year-on-year in the second quarter, helped by a growing base of Chinese sellers and affordable fashion products sourced from Turkey.
For IFC, the investment represents a bet on digital commerce infrastructure as a driver of economic opportunity in Africa. The World Bank Group said its investment could help about 60,000 local active sellers reach broader markets, support around 1,800 direct jobs and create income-generating opportunities for more than 100,000 independent sales agents.
“Jumia demonstrates how pan-African e-commerce platforms can expand economic opportunity at scale,” Farid Fezoua, IFC’s director for Equity, Funds and Venture Capital, said.
Jumia CEO Francis Dufay said the investment was a milestone for the company and validated the progress made in recent years.
The financing gives Jumia a larger capital cushion as it attempts to prove that e-commerce can become a sustainable business in markets where low purchasing power, expensive logistics, fragmented retail infrastructure and currency volatility have historically made online commerce difficult to scale.
If Jumia delivers on its 2026 breakeven target and reaches full-year profitability in 2027, the $50 million raise could mark a significant turning point for one of Africa’s most prominent publicly listed technology companies.