Efritin, one of the growing online platforms where consumers advertise products and services, just after less than 2 years of its operation in Nigeria has wind up operations, as well as stopping further investments in the country.
Reports show that staff of the online platform have been evacuating the head office located in Ikeja while office properties are being auctioned.
Findings reveal the economic uncertainties trailing Nigeria due to high cost of data and operational demands forced the e-classified advert player to close shop.
According to reliable sources close to the firm, Nils Hammar, Chief Executive Officer, Saltside Technologies and owners of Efritin, says the decision to close down its Nigerian office was due to the harsh economic conditions in the country as the primary factor.
“The high cost of data is slowing down investments, our fear is that the current recessive economic in Nigeria could linger to or remain the same up to last quarter of 2017.
Although, Telecom operators in Nigeria had indicated plans to hike the price of data following the directives of Telecom regulator in Nigeria.
The directive from the operator was eventually suspended following several kick-against campaigns on various channels by stakeholders and subscribers.
Hammer said Efritin is laying hold on investment in Nigeria. “That effectively means we are reducing our staff; everybody has to go. But in terms of using the site, it will continue as before. By investment we mean the investment we made from the launch, it will be reduced,” Hammar adds.
He said the cost of data cost is too high and limits the growth potential of the market.
“If you look at the size of Nigeria and the online activities, there is a big discrepancies. Before e-commerce and classified ad sites will start recouping return in investments (RoI) there has to be drastic reduction in cost of data,” the Saltside Technologies boss said.
Meanwhile, reports from TechMoron show that Efritin is alleged to be involved in 10 court cases in Nigeria that would cost the company up to N20million in fees among other things, which is a major catalyst to winding up the company.
However, Hammar agreed there are court cases, but denied that the legal tussles were part of the decisions to step out of Nigeria.
Reacting to this development, Hammer said he can’t comment on specific legal cases involving Efritin operations in Nigeria, especially, on whether there are true or not.”But I can tell you that has nothing to do with our decision to leave Nigeria. It has zero impact on the decision.
This decision is something we deliberated on for a very long time; tried different approaches to see if we can find a better path forward considering the economic challenges- the data cost”, he added.
