Unlike what everyone had written, Jumia is actually filing in NYSE as a German company, not a Lagos company. So, technically, we are yet to win that race. So, guys, it is not done yet: no Nigerian startup has indeed listed in New York for whatever the prize may be! I put this for record purposes as from Techcrunch to everyone, the messaging was a Nigerian firm but looking at the real stuffs that matter, Jumia is a German firm within the eyes of the American investors.
Today, Jumia is operating in 14 African countries with Nigeria the largest market but its principal executive office is in Berlin Germany, not Lagos Nigeria, according to SEC documents. This changes nothing but making it evidently clear that the march to the first Nigerian firm to NYSE remains alive.
I am expecting a company with the executive office in Nigeria. Sure, we understand that Jumia Germany is a holding company of all the pieces of Jumia in Africa. That is typical and the very reason we cannot say a Nigerian company has filed in New York. I expect a time when the holding company is based in Nigeria. So, going forward, my reporting on Jumia as it concerns its operations in New York will be classified as a German company which is what it is. So, Jumia cannot claim to be an African unicorn because it is not African.
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