This archive report was first published on 28 June 2021.
On June 28, 2021, Jiji, supported by Lemma.Group, and Cars45 announced a merger of their operations in Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria.
The combined entity will offer a unique experience for auto buyers and sellers, combining online and offline capabilities.
According to Anton Volyansky, CEO and co-founder of Jiji, the merger will bring additional value to consumers and mark Jiji's first step into the transactional business model.
“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,” Volyansky said.
Together, Jiji and Cars45 will create a single organisation offering unique services for car sellers, buyers, and dealers in Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria.
“The merger is the next logical step in Jiji development as the leading e-commerce platform on the continent. Our strategy implies moving further into transactional marketplace models and Cars45 merger is an important step in its realisation. We’re excited by the perspectives of the joint business and by the variety of additional options that both Jiji and Cars45 customers will have,” said Vladimir Mnogoletniy, co-founder and board member of Jiji.
“We are absolutely thrilled to join forces with Cars 45. We believe this will offer a new car buying and selling experience, where we will be able to inspect cars on behalf of buyers, making us the safest online platform to buy cars in Africa. With this kind of unparalleled experience, our market reach will exponentially grow since we will be exploring a business outside our usual classifieds model and our car sellers will benefit from it by selling their cars faster now than ever before,” said Maksym Golubev, country manager of Jiji Kenya.
“We are proud to have built a trusted buying and selling experience in autos. It makes sense to combine online and offline expertise. Merging with Jiji is aimed at creating a new kind of automotive retail experience for users in Africa. We are confident of jointly building an African Champion in the O2O Automotive Sector. Together we look forward to making transactions transparent and convenient for our customers, dealers and franchisees across all our current and future markets,” said Soumobroto Ganguly, CEO of Cars45.
