Jumia有望成為非洲版阿里巴巴

NAIROBI, Kenya—On safari for the rare African tech unicorn, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and other big-name investors think they have spotted a winner in Jumia, the continent’s aspiring Alibaba.

肯尼亞內(nèi)羅畢--- 高盛集團(Goldman Sachs Group Inc.)等知名投資機構(gòu)在搜尋非洲科技獨角獸的過程中發(fā)現(xiàn)，盡管目標稀缺，但Jumia可謂潛力巨大，有望成為非洲大陸的阿里巴巴(Alibaba Group)。

The online retailer, which launched in 2012 in Nigeria with the backing of German startup fund Rocket Internet SE, is Africa’s biggest e-commerce platform selling goods and services to millions of customers. It has raised more than $700 million from investors, including global telecom operators and was valued at $1.2 billion—qualifying as a so-called unicorn—during its last fundraising round in 2016.

這家獲德國初創(chuàng)基金Rocket Internet SE支持的電商2012年創(chuàng)立于尼日利亞，目前是非洲最大電商平臺，向數(shù)以百萬計的非洲人銷售商品和服務(wù)。Jumia已獲包括國際電信運營商在內(nèi)眾多投資者逾7億美元投資，在2016年的上一個融資輪中，公司估值達12億美元。

Jumia has expanded from four to 14 countries. Gross sales last year reached 507 million euros ($597 million), up 42% from the year before. Its vendor network, from Cape Town, South Africa, to Casablanca, Morocco, includes up to 70,000 businesses offering their goods and services online.

Jumia的足跡已從四個國家拓展至14個國家。去年，公司總銷售額達5.07億歐元(合6.827億美元)，同比增長42%。Jumia的供貨商網(wǎng)絡(luò)覆蓋面廣闊，從南非開普敦直到摩洛哥卡薩布蘭卡，其在線平臺上有多達七萬個商家提供各種商品和服務(wù)。

Jumia’s growth story outlines the scale of the challenge for African online retail. Faced with poor internet connections and tight bank lending for vendors and consumers, the startup has had to build from scratch much of the economic infrastructure within which to operate.

從Jumia的成長歷程也可略窺非洲電商市場挑戰(zhàn)之巨。除了網(wǎng)絡(luò)連接不暢，供貨商和消費者也難以獲得銀行貸款，面對這些難題，Jumia幾乎從零開始搭建了配套經(jīng)濟基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施，以便開展運營。

“Nowhere else in the world is it more difficult to shop than in Africa,” said Sacha Poignonnec, Jumia’s co-founder and chief executive.

Jumia聯(lián)席創(chuàng)始人兼首席執(zhí)行長Sacha Poignonnec稱：“說到買東西，全球再沒什么地方比非洲更難了。”

Jumia executives have set up credit lines, offering loans to vetted vendors from the company’s balance sheet. They also hold training workshops on basic accounting and stock-keeping.

Jumia的管理層建立了信用額度制度，用公司資產(chǎn)負債表上的資金向通過審核的供貨商提供貸款。公司管理層還舉辦有關(guān)基礎(chǔ)會計知識和庫存管理的培訓。

Just 0.5% of all retail on the continent takes place online, according to Boston Consulting Group research, compared with about 15% in China—home to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. —and 5% in India. But companies like Jumia are changing the economic landscape for many African entrepreneurs.

根據(jù)波士頓咨詢公司(Boston Consulting Group)的研究，在非洲，電商銷售額僅占整體銷售額的0.5%，在中國該比例約為15%，印度為5%，但盡管如此，Jumia等公司正在為眾多非洲企業(yè)家重塑經(jīng)濟版圖。