Naspers owned OLX, one of Africa’s leading e-commerce platforms has Closed down operations in Nigeria and Kenya.
Business Insider Sub Saharan Africa (BI SSA) confirmed from several
internal sources within both territories, the closure of its operations
in two of Africa’s strongest markets.
OLX, founded as an alternative to Craigslist and fully acquired by
South Africa media giant Naspers in 2010 has been struggling to make its
businesses in Kenya and Nigeria viable since it entered those markets
in 2012.
Business Insider SSA understands that staff of the company in Nigeria
and Kenya were formally informed of the decision on Tuesday with a
notice of termination to staff beginning in March, followed by
management team in April.
The shutdown and an almost non-existent on ground operation in Ghana
means that the country will now fully focus on its strongest market on
the African continent in South Africa.
It will be interesting to see what next steps OLX takes in Africa. Will the business in the market run remotely?
It is not clear the number of staff that has been affected by the
decision but in Kenya a lot of livestock and agro based clients of the
platform will be disappointed with the platform being one of the main
mediums of selling farm products as well as a large car selling base.
OLX joins a long list of e-commerce businesses who
have wrapped up business in west and east Africa over the past two years
after failing to break even.
In 2017, Nigeria based
Efritin.com
closed down with then CEO Nils Hammer, citing high cost of data, poor
internet penetration and adoption as well as economic woes of the
country as the prevalent factors responsible for their exit from the
Nigerian e-commerce market.
Jumia has also had to consolidate all its assets into single units to
reduce overhead costs. In Ghana, the initial success of Tonaton has
given way to a difficult few years.
Business Insider SSA has reached out to management of OLX for comment on the development.
It’s a pity to see OLX leave us
0 Comments