Early April of 2019 marked one of the biggest tech consolidation events of the year. The biggest Nigerian classifieds website Jiji acquired the Nigerian branch of OLX along with four other African OLX business. Find out more about the deal right now!
Shop with confidence online in Nigeria on Jiji
1. Jiji history
Jiji didn’t become the favourite place to shop online for Nigerians overnight. The website was founded in 2014, and it took several years for Jiji to accumulate the current stats, which include over a million of ads and millions of active users.
During those five years since the launch, Jiji has steadily made its way into the hearts of Nigerian shoppers. A turning point for the service was the introduction of a mobile app, which currently has over 6 millions of users and is the highest-rated e-commerce app in Nigeria.
This rapid growth turned Jiji from a newcomer of the market into a powerful player. Jiji and OLX have been in a competition for years, and the competition has been finally resolved with one of the most discussed acquisitions in Africa of the past few years.
2. Jiji acquires OLX
Back in February of 2018, when OLX closed a number of its African offices, including the Nigerian department, users were worried about the state of their business. A little over a year later, everyone heard the major news of Jiji acquiring OLX.
So what exactly happened? After a long period of negotiations, Jiji has gained the rights to service millions of former OLX users in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda.
After the acquision goes through the required state regulatory approvals, OLX visitors in those five countries will be redirected to Jiji every time they intend to visit OLX.
The co-founders of Jiji, Anton Volyansky and Vladimir Mnogoletniy, as well as the General Manager of OLX in Africa, Middle East and Asia, Sjoerd Nikkelen, couldn’t be happier about the long-awaited acquisition deal.
The deal is backed by Digital Spring Ventures, one of the biggest investors of Jiji. Jiji’s plans for the future don’t stop there: the company is determined to grow into one of the top 10 international classifieds websites by traffic.
3. What does it mean for the users?
The current users of Jiji will hardly notice the acquisition at all, although the increasing number of ads and users will give Jiji visitors even more opportunities for shopping and developing their business.
As for OLX users, they will quickly get the hang of Jiji and its modern, convenient interface. Buying and selling on Jiji is easier than ever, and the growing traffic will allow more visitors to see your ads. As always, millions of Jiji users will continue to enjoy the famous Jiji functionality, user-friendly design, and the acclaimed movile app.
Get the complete Jiji experience with the Jiji app
