Kenya’s Jiji acquires Ghanaian-based classifieds outlet Tonaton

By Eunice Wawuda

Kenyan-based venture Jiji announced on Monday its full acquisition of Ghanaian-based classifieds heavyweight Tonaton.

Jiji already holds leadership positions in Kenya and Ghana. Additionally, the marketplace operates in Uganda and Tanzania, with some 12 million users making up a monthly active base among all geographies. The amount of the transaction was undisclosed.

Tonaton, a subsidiary of Saltside, was the main Jiji competitor in Ghana at the time of its purchase by Jiji earlier last month. However, Tonaton has quickly grown in popularity thanks to innovations that make it easier for users to buy and sell online, a strategy aligned with Jiji’s mission.

Jiji and Tonaton users will now have access to a larger network of buyers and sellers, which will significantly increase trading opportunity and aggregate user base in what is seen as a major market consolidation in the classifieds sector.

With Jiji’s move to a large-scale presence in the African continent, and following its acquisition of OLX in 2019 and its recent acquisition of Cars45 in 2021, the deal sees the company well-positioned to tap into a larger share of the African market. ”

The diversification of its portfolio of services and regions has been a consistent theme for Jiji.

With the deep penetration of Tonaton in the Ghanaian classifieds sector as the go-to platform and factoring in its leading position in Ghana’s transactional used auto market, Jiji has carefully secured a reliable base towards streamlining their services to a projected (SSA) market of 400 million-plus users – a market in which it currently sits as the indisputable leader in several key countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda, amounting to over $10 billion in gross merchandise value.