Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada
There are indications that OLX, an online marketplace owned by Naspers, has shut down its offices in Nigeria, a move that will affect over 100 of its employees.It was gathered that the workers were formally informed of the decision on Tuesday through a notice of termination, which will commence in March, and will be followed by the management team in April.In an emailed response by the Public Relations and Communications Lead, OLX Nigeria, Uche Nwagboso, the company confirmed that it made a decision to consolidate its business operations in Nigeria.According to her, the company has made provision for financial compensation for the workers that will be affected.“We made a difficult but important decision in Nigeria to consolidate our operations between some of our offices internationally. Our marketplace will continue to operate here – uninterrupted – as it has since 2010, and we remain committed to the many people here who use our platform to buy and sell every month,” Nwagboso said.She added, “We continue to be focused on constantly innovating to make sure that OLX remains the top classified platform in the country. Of course, we are committed to helping our affected colleagues during this transition and have already offered them meaningful financial and other support.“As we’ve expressed to them directly, we are extremely grateful for their many significant contributions to OLX’s success.”OLX, which launched in Nigeria in 2012, said it had more than three million sellers and buyers registered on its platform in 2015 and reported that items valued at N12.1tn were posted for sale on its website in 2016.OLX is a classified ad platform that connects people in local communities to buy, sell or exchange used goods and services through their mobile phone or on the web.OLX operates in 45 countries and has an average of 54 million monthly listings of items for sale on its website.The e-commerce business is experiencing divestment in Nigeria. Efritin.com closed down in 2015, citing high cost of doing business as reasons for the exit from Nigeria. Konga.com, in which Naspers is a major investor, also sold its business to Zinox Group last week.
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