TechOLX Is Shutting Down Its Nigeria And Kenya Operations

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Naspers owned OLX, one of Africa’s leading e-commerce  platforms has winded up operations in Nigeria and Kenya.

Business Insider Sub Saharan Africa( BI SSA) confirmed from several internal sources within both territories of the closure of the business in two of Africa’s strongest e-commerce 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 demise of the two businesses 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 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 platforms will be disappointed with the platform being one of the main mediums of selling farm products.

OLX joins a long list of e-commerce businesses who have wrapped up business in west and east Africa over the past two years.In 2015,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.

 

 

Source: pulse.ng