Cars45 merges with Jiji to offer new auto trading model in Africa

Cars45, a technology-enabled automotive trading platform, has agreed to merge its operations in Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya with Jiji, a classified e-commerce platform.

The company has had different ownerships over the years.

In 2017, Cars45 raised a $5 million investment from Frontier Car Group (FCG) and the Berlin-based company that builds used-car marketplaces became the largest shareholder. By 2020, OLX Group acquired the company from FCG.

In a media parley held in Ikeja on Tuesday, the automotive technology platform explained that the merger with Jiji would offer a new level of trade experience for auto buyers, sellers, and dealers across the three countries.

Soumobroto Ganguly, CEO of Cars45, said, “We are coming together as one entity, and we are hoping to develop this business (the merger) across Africa.

“Our business is complimentary, they (Jiji) have a good database of listings, merchants, sellers, dealers,” he said.

“They have powerful performance management in Nigeria to generate leads. We (Cars45), on the other hand, have a strong transaction side in terms of bookings and inspections for closing transactions. We hope to combine offerings with all kinds of users and stakeholders.”

Ganguly further said a decision on rebranding would be taken later as Jiji is also into electronic appliances, properties, consumer products, among others.

In his remarks, Yuliy Shenfeld, Jiji Africa director, said, “We want to transform the market of buying and selling of cars with Cars45, which will have to go through inspection first before listed on Jiji.”

“The inspection will cover both the technicality and legal area, which is the database about the history and documentation of the car.

“On Cars45, you can sell your car in less than one hour. Now Jiji sellers will also benefit from this, and they can use more than 100 locations of Cars45.

“All cars on Jiji will now have an inspected report, and buyers will be able to choose the right car very easily without any trust issue, and this is a gap we are trying to achieve with this merger.”

Maxim Makarchuk, investor relations manager at Jiji, said the goal of the merger is to bring value to the end-users and create a one-stop solution for buying cars in the most convenient way for customers.