OLX closure: More firms to go, experts warn

Experts in the Information Communication Technology sector have warned that more e-commerce firms would shut down their operations like OLX Nigeria’s major investor, Naspers.
Naspers decided to shut its Nigerian operations last week after battling several undisclosed hurdles since 2016, a situation that threw over 100 employees of the company into the labour market.
OLX is not alone in the crisis, as most of the operators in the e-commerce industry are experiencing divestment in Nigeria.
Efritin.com closed down in 2015, citing high cost of doing business as reason for its exit from Nigeria. Konga.com, in which Naspers is a major investor, also sold its business to Zinox Group last week.
To avoid more shutdown, the founder, Computer Warehouse Group, Mr. Austin Okere, cautioned operators in the industry to invest in their back-end, to grant buyers a satisfactory customer experience.
He explained that prior to the advent of e-commerce, customers enjoyed hospitality from the attendants when they purchased goods at the frontline but this has been neglected by the Nigerian e-commerce players and subsequently, led to a disparity in the impact of these technological firms.
‘‘When you compare ecommerce players like Alibaba and Amazon to those in our country, you see them making a lot of turn-over and profit, unlike our own ’efritin.com’, which has suspended service; ‘Konga’ is struggling, and ‘Jumia is not expanding’,” he said.
Another ICT expert, Mr. Ahmed Mustapha, blamed the lull in the sub-sector on the Central Bank of Nigeria, which has not ensured that all Nigerians are included in its cashless policy.
He explained that the worst challenge was excluding the unbanked from the financial system. ‘’We have not been able to go beyond those that are already bank customers to those that are not yet included, that is the last mile we are yet to surmount.
“Most market women are not poor but are excluded from the cashless policy because they do not have the time to go to the bank; so, we have to take the bank to them. Now, when we talk about online products that when you want to become a customer, you will be requested to provide details like your Bank Verification Number and so on, as it is done before you become a bank customer,” he
said.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations and Communications Lead, OLX Nigeria, Ms. Uche Nwagboso, said that the company made the decision to consolidate its business operations in Nigeria.
She said, “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.
“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.”