African e-commerce company Jumia Technologies has drawn takeover interest from telecommunications company Axian Telecom, people familiar with the matter said.

Axian, which is based in Mauritius and primarily offers telecommunications services in Africa, raised US$600-million this week to refinance its debt and help fund a possible takeover of Jumia, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private.

No final decisions have been made and the companies may not come to an agreement, they said. Jumia has a market value of about $500-million.

The deal would help both companies expand across the continent, the people said. Jumia, which started in Nigeria in 2012 and held an initial public offering in New York in 2019, could be delisted in any deal, they said.

Representatives for Jumia and Axian declined to comment.

Often referred to as the “Amazon of Africa”, Jumia has had to do its own mapping in some of its markets and set up logistics networks to cater to a young and increasingly tech-savvy population that uses smartphones to bridge gaps in infrastructure and services.

It was one of the first African companies to achieve “unicorn” status with a valuation of more than $1-billion, but its shares have declined significantly since the IPO.