One of Africa’s leading online classified platforms, OLX, said the need to consolidate international operations of the company led to the decision to close its Nigeria office.

This information was disclosed in a statement issued by the OLX Nigeria’s Public Relation and Communication Lead, Uche Nwagboso in Lagos on Thursday, February 8, 2018. The company further added that its operation and services will be active in the country.

The company’s statement reads: “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 classifieds platform in the country.”

OLX was founded in 2006 by Alec Oxenford and Fabrice Grinda to serve as an alternative to Craigslist. The Nigeria office of the company was opened in 2012.

In 2014, a South African media group, Naspers, bought a majority stake in the company in 2010. At present, Naspers owns 95% of the business.

“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,” the statement added.

OLX currently operates in 45 countries across the world including Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. The company is rated as the largest online classified ads company in India, Brazil and Eastern European countries.