L
LequteMan
Guest
Founded in August 2015, classifieds site Efritin.com stormed Nigeria and 'laid claim to everything,' according to a report on NaijaTechGuide.
Two years later, Efritin is suddenly packing out and leaving behind about 200 ex employees, office chairs, tables and even coffee mugs too. There are talks that the firm's furniture are being/have been auctioned off. It's clear that the firm's books is in the red and something drastic needs to be done.
To many, Efritin's exit is unexpected (in fact, the news shocked Nigeria's "techsphere"), but veterans won't be surprised.
It seems Efritin is getting rid of everything it doesn't need for its operations in Nigeria. The firm is weighed down by the huge cost of production and coupled with Nigeria's business climate, decided to drop "everything"- infrastructure and labour included.
Speaking with ITWebAfrica on the exit, Nils Hammar, CEO of Saltside, owners of Efritin, said high cost of data in Nigeria was a major issue.
"It basically has to do with the fact that we didn't get desired returns on our investment, so we decided to scale back on our investments in Nigeria and that means we are forced to let many people leave the company. I would like to clarify that the site is not going to be closed, it is still up and running and working just fine as it has been. It doesn't mean that we are never going to start investing in Nigeria again. I think that's definitely a possibility. Our view is that the Nigerian market for ecommerce and classifieds is a tricky one at the moment for a few different reasons. We didn't see it was worthwhile our investment at the moment."
There are rumors that Efritin is involved in several legal issues, which may in one way or the other have affected it.
However, the firm has other franchises in other countries including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia and have the biggest classifieds site in Ghana as well.
Two years later, Efritin is suddenly packing out and leaving behind about 200 ex employees, office chairs, tables and even coffee mugs too. There are talks that the firm's furniture are being/have been auctioned off. It's clear that the firm's books is in the red and something drastic needs to be done.
To many, Efritin's exit is unexpected (in fact, the news shocked Nigeria's "techsphere"), but veterans won't be surprised.
It seems Efritin is getting rid of everything it doesn't need for its operations in Nigeria. The firm is weighed down by the huge cost of production and coupled with Nigeria's business climate, decided to drop "everything"- infrastructure and labour included.
Speaking with ITWebAfrica on the exit, Nils Hammar, CEO of Saltside, owners of Efritin, said high cost of data in Nigeria was a major issue.
"It basically has to do with the fact that we didn't get desired returns on our investment, so we decided to scale back on our investments in Nigeria and that means we are forced to let many people leave the company. I would like to clarify that the site is not going to be closed, it is still up and running and working just fine as it has been. It doesn't mean that we are never going to start investing in Nigeria again. I think that's definitely a possibility. Our view is that the Nigerian market for ecommerce and classifieds is a tricky one at the moment for a few different reasons. We didn't see it was worthwhile our investment at the moment."
There are rumors that Efritin is involved in several legal issues, which may in one way or the other have affected it.
However, the firm has other franchises in other countries including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia and have the biggest classifieds site in Ghana as well.
