Africa Internet Holding (AIH), a subsidiary of Rocket Internet, has launched a hotel booking website called “Jovago” aimed at improving hotel booking services in Africa, as the German incubator seeks to strengthen its presence in the continent.
The hotel site will start in Lagos, Nigeria first — where the portfolio consists of over 200 hotels. In all, Jovago will offer more than 140,000 hotels worldwide.
AIH says that there is a lack of convenient solutions for booking hotels in Nigeria currently, with common approaches still including using booking agencies and walking into hotels directly. The company’s co-CEO Jeremy Hodara says that Jovago will help businessmen and travelers find more reliable accommodation.
Those who use Jovago can opt between paying at the hotel and making an online payment, both without any booking fees.
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Rocket Internet has been making moves into Africa as it aims to make inroads into the largely-untapped market. Last year, global telecom giant Millicom International Cellular (Millicom), also known as Tigo, closed a deal with Rocket Internet that would enable both companies to jointly develop franchises in the online and e-commerce sectors in Latin America and Africa.
In June, Rocket Internet’s e-commerce startup JUMIA raised $35 million in fresh funding from Millicom to expand in its domestic market and move into a new 90,000 square foot warehouse located in Lagos. Last month, the incubator’s Brazil-based taxi booking startup EasyTaxi raised an additional $10 million worth of funding to expand further to more territories, including more African countries.
Image Credit: Chris Jackson via Getty Images
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