E-commerce giant Jumia has filed a petition to appoint Hassanein Hiridjee, the founder and director of Axian Telecom, Africa’s sixth-largest telecommunications company, to its Supervisory Board.
The move follows the resignation of Angela Mwanza, a managing director at Rockefeller Capital Management, who stepped down in June after serving on the board since 2019. Her exit, along with that of another board member, Ms. Elizabeth Huebner, left the board with only four members, below the six members stipulated in the company’s articles of association.
According to an SEC filing on Tuesday, Jumia’s management had proposed to reduce the board’s size to five members, but this resolution was rejected by shareholders at the annual general meeting on June 19, 2025. Hiridjee will fill one of the two vacant seats.
The appointment is not entirely unexpected. Axian Telecom, having recently upped its stake in Jumia to 9.97%, is now one of the company’s most influential investors. Axian’s investment has intensified market speculation about a potential takeover of the e-commerce giant, whose shares have rallied sharply in response. On Tuesday, Jumia’s stock reached a 52-week high of $8.68.
The first notable reports regarding Axian Telecom’s ambitions to acquire Jumia emerged in July 2025 on Bloomberg. The publication reported that Axian was contemplating a full buyout of Jumia, citing sources close to internal negotiations, recent shareholder filings, and corroborating regulatory disclosures.
At the time, Axian had completed a $600 million bond issuance, fuelling analyst expectations that it was gearing for a major expansion, possibly including the acquisition of Jumia. Axian’s stake in Jumia climbed to 9.18% following the report.
Jumia CEO Francic Dufay has not responded directly to the speculations. Nonetheless, in an interview republished on the Jumia site, Dufay says of Axian, “Since they disclosed their position, we’ve been talking… looking at what we can achieve together, where we can create synergies.”
However, Axian’s stake may be a strategic partnership, not a precursor to a takeover.
Likewise, Axian Telecom has been tight-lipped, neither confirming nor denying any acquisition plans. The company has, however, been publicly complimentary of Jumia’s digital platforms, especially JumiaPay, a payment platform that has enabled Jumia to receive payment for goods digitally.
In a June 2025 press release, AXIAN signalled intent to explore the use of Jumia’s payment gateway, JumiaPay, within its fintech ecosystem – positioning Jumia not just as a merchant platform, but as a payment enabler for broader digital use cases.
Market reaction to these developments has been dramatic. The share rally is rewarding for the company that has been making painful cuts to become profitable. The onboarding of a strategic investor such as Axian promises access to new capital, technology, and networks at a critical inflexion point for continental e-commerce in Africa. For Jumia, it may be the turning point needed to reassert itself amid increasing competition.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated with additional details from an SEC filing.
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