By Princewill Ekwujuru

Jiji, one of the online marketplaces in Africa, has reached an agreement to merge operations with used car sales platform Cars45, in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya, creating a pan-African car buying and selling business.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Anton Volyansky, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Jiji, which was supported by Lemma Group in the merger, said: “We are looking forward to creating a new advanced experience for Cars45 users.

“Undoubtedly, our collaboration on future products and services will bring additional value to the consumers.

“For Jiji, it’s the first bold step into the transactional business model and an important foundation for building the future of the company.

READ ALSO: OLX Group explains why it acquired Cars45

“The merger of operations promises a new level of trade experience for auto buyers and sellers across the three countries.

“Joining the Jiji family will allow Cars45 users to benefit from Jiji’s market-leading products in online classifieds.

“In turn, Cars45 will bring a unique O2O car buying and selling service, where cars can safely be sold instantly to dealers or via a consumer marketplace to other consumers.

“Together, users in the auto sector can expect a new level of convenience in buying and selling cars, combining online and offline capabilities.”

According to Chief Financial Officer and member of the Strategic Board at Jiji, David Ojo, “Cars45’s key value for Jiji is a network of inspection centres, where all cars are inspected by 202+ parameters.

“This provides a detailed report on a car’s condition with information from various databases: police, registration, etc.

“All of this ultimately aligns with Jiji’s focus on customers’ safety and overall quality user experience.”

Vanguard News Nigeria