Privet,
Victoria from Techpoint here,
Here’s what I’ve got for you today:
- Jumia gets new $50M cash injection
- Liberia digitises telecom licence renewals
- Vodacom Chair to step down after 10 years
Jumia gets new $50M cash injection
Jumia has just secured a $50 million equity injection, and the interesting part is who’s backing it: the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Axian. The deal, agreed on August 11, 2026, will see Jumia issue about 9.1 million American depositary shares at $5.52 each, with the IFC putting in $25 million and Axian and other investors providing the rest. Jumia says the fresh cash will strengthen its balance sheet and help fund its push towards profitability.
The money is arriving at a pretty important moment for Jumia. At the end of June 2026, the company had just $48.3 million in cash and equivalents, down from $77.8 million at the start of the year, while its consolidated equity had fallen to only about $367,000. At the same time, there are signs that the business itself is moving in the right direction: second-quarter revenue rose 14% year-on-year to $52 million, while gross merchandise value grew 20%. So this isn’t simply a case of investors throwing money at a business with no signs of improvement; Jumia is showing better operating numbers, but it still needs cash to keep going while it tries to reach break-even.
So where will the $50 million go? Jumia says it will use the money to strengthen its logistics network, warehouses, and JumiaPay, while expanding deeper into secondary and tertiary cities. That’s important because one of the biggest problems with eCommerce in Africa isn’t necessarily getting someone to order online; it’s getting the product to them cheaply and reliably. Jumia has spent the past few years cutting costs and narrowing its focus, and the latest numbers show the impact: its adjusted EBITDA loss fell 36% year-on-year to $8.7 million in Q2. The company now says it is targeting adjusted EBITDA break-even and positive cash flow in Q4 2026, with full-year adjusted EBITDA profitability in 2027.
There’s also a bit of history behind the Axian side of this deal. The Madagascar-based telecoms group first bought an 8% stake in Jumia in June 2025, later increasing its effective holding to around 10%. Axian’s interest has always been intriguing because it operates telecoms and digital-finance businesses across Africa, potentially giving Jumia a strategic partner with reach beyond traditional eCommerce. In fact, Axian CEO Hassanein Hiridjee was elected to Jumia’s supervisory board. The latest investment, therefore, isn’t just another financial cheque; it deepens a relationship that started last year.
And this is where the bigger Jumia story gets interesting. Since Francis Dufay became CEO in 2023, the company has been aggressively cutting costs and walking away from businesses and markets that weren’t helping it get closer to profitability. It exited food delivery in several markets and later pulled out of South Africa and Tunisia, concentrating resources on its stronger markets. The strategy is now beginning to show in its operating numbers, but the balance sheet has been under serious pressure. This $50 million gives Jumia some breathing room and, perhaps more importantly, puts the IFC and an existing strategic investor behind its attempt to prove that African eCommerce can become a sustainable business rather than an endless fundraising story.
Liberia digitises telecom licence renewals
Liberia is trying to take some of the paperwork out of running a telecoms business. On August 12, 2026, the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) announced plans to introduce a digital licensing and renewal system that will let operators apply for, renew, and manage their licences online. The regulator says the system should make the process faster, more transparent, and easier to track, while reducing the delays and manual paperwork that currently come with licensing.
The new platform will essentially create a single digital process for telecom operators dealing with the regulator. Instead of moving physical documents through different offices, companies will be able to submit applications and supporting documents electronically, track where an application is in the process and receive updates digitally. The LTA also wants the system to improve how it manages licence records and renewals, giving both the regulator and operators a clearer picture of which licences are active, expiring or due for renewal.
Telecom licensing may sound like boring administrative stuff, but it can directly affect how quickly companies can launch or expand services. A slow or opaque licensing process can mean delays for new operators, additional costs for existing ones and more work for regulators. For Liberia, where expanding connectivity and attracting investment into its digital infrastructure remain priorities, making the regulatory process easier to navigate could help create a friendlier environment for telecom and technology companies.
The push is also part of a broader effort by the LTA to modernise how it regulates the sector. Liberia has been gradually moving more regulatory processes online as the country’s telecoms market becomes more complex. The LTA regulates mobile operators, internet service providers and other communications businesses, meaning it has to keep track of a growing number of licences and regulatory obligations. Automating the process should give it better access to real-time information instead of relying heavily on physical records and manual checks.
The bigger question now is execution. A digital licensing platform only makes a difference if operators actually use it and the regulator can keep it secure, reliable, and up to date. Still, the move is a useful signal that Liberia is trying to modernise the less glamorous parts of its digital infrastructure too. Everyone talks about building fibre networks and expanding mobile coverage, but how quickly a company can get regulatory approval to provide those services matters just as much. If the LTA gets this right, one of the biggest beneficiaries could be telecom operators that spend less time chasing paperwork and more time building networks.
Vodacom Chair to step down after 10 years
Vodacom is already planning its next boardroom chapter, even though the biggest change won’t actually happen until 2027. The company announced on August 12, 2026, that chairman Saki Macozoma will retire from the board at the annual general meeting on July 20, 2027, after serving on the board for 10 years. He will be replaced as chairman by Khumo Shuenyane, currently Vodacom’s lead independent director, from July 21, 2027. Well, Vodacom has a self-imposed 10-year limit for board members.
There’s another change coming too. Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa, Naspers South Africa CEO and a Vodacom director since January 2019, will leave the board on October 8, 2026. She currently chairs the remuneration committee and sits on the nomination committee. Taking her place from October 9 will be Segun Ogunsanya, the former Airtel Africa CEO, who will join as an independent non-executive director. So this isn’t just a chairmanship handover; Vodacom is refreshing several parts of its board at once.
Interestingly, Vodacom is entering a different phase of its growth story. The company has been moving beyond traditional mobile connectivity into financial services, digital services, and infrastructure, while its Vision 2030 strategy is now the main long-term roadmap. In May, Vodacom said it planned to put about R12 billion into its South African network in the 2027 financial year, following R11.9 billion of capex the previous year. And in July, the group reported R42.4 billion in quarterly revenue, up 5.9% year-on-year, with financial services and international markets helping drive growth.
Macozoma’s exit also closes a fairly significant chapter. He joined the Vodacom board in July 2017 and became chairman in July 2020, taking over from Jabu Moleketi, who had served as chairman for 11 years. During Macozoma’s tenure, Vodacom says the board oversaw the implementation of its Vision 2025 strategy and the launch of Vision 2030. His departure therefore comes at a point when the company has already completed major strategic transactions, including Safaricom and Maziv, and is shifting towards getting more value from the assets it now has.
And Ogunsanya’s appointment is particularly interesting for anyone watching African telecoms. He spent years running Airtel Africa, giving Vodacom’s incoming board member experience across multiple African markets and in a direct competitor to Vodacom. He left Airtel Africa as CEO in 2024 after leading the company for about six years. Now he’ll be joining Vodacom’s board as the group navigates a telecoms industry that is increasingly about fintech, fibre, cloud, AI and digital infrastructure rather than just selling voice and data. So while this looks like a routine board refresh driven by tenure rules, the people coming in, particularly Ogunsanya, could bring some useful perspective as Vodacom works through its next decade.
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What I’m watching
- Why you feel what you feel | Alan Watkins | TEDxOxford
- A Society Where Money Replaced Every Value | Max Horkheimer
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- Flutterwave is hiring for several roles. Apply here.
- Moniepoint is hiring for over 100 roles. Apply here.
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Have a superb Thursday!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa
