Naspers continues OLX rollout, scuppers Dealfish Nigeria and Kenya

Naspers is shutting down Dealfish, its Nigerian and Kenyan free classified sites, and replacing them with OLX.

The move comes as the emerging markets giant attempts to make the most of the service which it owns a 71% stake in.

According to Nigerian tech news site Techloy, the two major reasons for this consolidation are: technology and branding.

Given that OLX has a presence in more than 90 countries, and is doing well in most of them, it’s logical that the tech behind it would be more robust and sophisticated than that of Dealfish.

Having a global name like OLX in yet another country, also helps push the brand’s image.

OLX is the largest online classifieds platform in the world, with over 130-million unique visitors every month. The company was co-founded in March 2006 by millionaire internet entrepreneurs Fabrice Grinda and Alec Oxenford. OLX has more than 150 employees across offices in South Africa, Argentina, USA, Russia, China, Brazil and India.

No Dealfish employees are expected to lose their jobs during thee transition and will all be absorbed into OLX. According to Techloy, “OLX already has an online presence in Nigeria and Kenya via www.olx.com.ng and olx.co.ke (although both sites are not accessible at the moment)”. The OLX brand reportedly also has a Facebook and Twitter page for both countries.

Naspers has already shut down its Kalahari ads service in South Africa and Indian classifieds platform TradusAds.