Jumia, Xiaomi partner on smartphone penetration in Africa

Jumia, an e-commerce platform has entered into partnership with Xiaomi, a Chinese electronic company, to give millions of users in Africa access to Xiaomi products.
Mr Romain Christodoulou, the Vice President Jumia Group, said during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Christodoulou said that the partnership was important because it would foster smartphone adoption in Africa as well as support e-commerce penetration.
Xiaomi Corporation is a Chinese electronics company with headquarters in Beijing.
Xiaomi manufactures and invests in smartphones, mobile apps, laptops, and related consumer electronics.
The Jumia VP said that the partnership was very beneficial for both companies and above all for its consumers in Africa.
“Through the partnership, Jumia will open the Mi official store on its platform and give Xiaomi access to millions of online customers across 14 countries on the continent.
“It will also be supported by an ambitious joint-market throughout 2019 leveraging on Jumia’s digital assets and Xiaomi marketing capabilities, including the Mi fan community,” Christodoulou said.
The Chief Executive Officer of Jumia Nigeria, Mrs Juliet Anammah, in her reactions described the partnership as a welcome development.
She said that the partnership was coming at a time that Nigeria was listed among the seven countries that would contribute 700 million new mobile subscribers to hit the 6 billion mobile subscribers mark in the world by 2025.
“Availability of lower price point smartphones such as Xiaomi will deepen smartphone penetration in the country and help the country in meeting its four per cent quota of the 700 million new global mobile subscribers, as predicted by GSMA Intelligence,” she added.
“The partnership will initially cover Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Morocco, and Ghana, and aim to cover all other countries where Jumia operates.
“Most markets will be directly supplied from China, confirming the fast expansion of intercontinental trade in Africa, ” Anammah said.
She said that Africa had seen the rise of affordable entry-level devices from price-focused brands especially from China, which remains a key driver of smartphone adoption on the continent.
Anammah said that smartphone penetration in Africa stood at approximately 36 per cent in 2018, with the figure expected to reach about 66 per cent by 2025.