Efritin closes Nigerian office over poor economy

Efritin has confirmed that it has stopped further investments in Nigeria and has wound down operations, just 16 months after its official launch.

Efritin (pronounced as ‘Everything’) blamed the closure on the high cost of data and operational demands.
The investigation so far shows that the e-classified advert player has closed shop while the company’s staff are already vacating the head office located in Ikeja and office properties are being auctioned.

Nils Hammar, chief executive officer, Saltside Technologies and owners of Efritin, confirmed to the press the decision to close down its Nigerian office.

Hammar lamented that the high cost of data is slowing down investments, while expressing the fear that the recession in the country may persist till the last quarter of 2017.

“We are reducing our 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.
“Like I said earlier, 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 discrepancy. Before e-commerce and classified ad sites will start recouping return in investments there has to be a drastic reduction in the cost of data,” he said.

He agreed Efritin has court cases according to a report by TechMoron but debunked the claim that the legal tussles were part of the decisions to quit Nigeria.

“I can’t comment on specific legal cases involving Efritin operations in Nigeria, especially, on whether they 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, and tried different approaches to see if we can find a better path forward considering the economic challenges- the data cost,” he added.