Naspers owned OLX, one of Africa’s leading e-commerce platforms has reportedly winded up operations in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.
According to a report published on Techpoint.ng, Sjoerd Nikkelen, CEO of OLX in Asia, Middle East and Africa confirmed that OLX has indeed shut down physical operations in Nigeria. He however made no mention of Kenya or Ghana.
Multinational media group and investor Naspers has allegedly shut down all OLX offices in Africa except the one in South Africa. Operations in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya are going to be affected by this announcement.
OLX is a global classifieds platform, with physical presence in nearly 40 countries.
It is reported 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.
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.
Naspers are investors in MultiChoice — operators of the DStv and GOtv satellite televisions — and the recently acquired Konga.
This move is a possible indicator that Naspers is slowly moving its investments away from Africa. It remains to be seen what next steps OLX takes in Africa.
