Johannesburg - Naspers-owned MIH Internet Africa
on Wednesday announced that the local resources at its online
classifieds startup Kalahari Ads would be consolidated with
international resources available via OLX, another Naspers
[JSE:NPN] owned entity
in a bid to grow Naspers' online classifieds footprint and market
penetration in South Africa.
Classifieds listed on Kalahariads.net will thus be moved to the new platform - www.olx.co.za, effective December 20.
Paul Casarin, general manager of Kalahari Ads, said it had
been hugely successful since its launch earlier this year, becoming the third-largest general classifieds site in South Africa within eight months and seeing the successful rebranding of a number of Naspers newspaper
classifieds titles.
"OLX is one of the world's leading classified services and the
current leader in Latin America and Asia. With a presence in 90
countries in 40 languages, the free classifieds site has a strong user
base internationally, with over 125 million unique visitors per month
worldwide," he said.
"By consolidating the two businesses we enjoy the expertise of
a global classifieds business (OLX) as well as the hands-on local
knowledge of the Kalahari Ads team who will ensure prompt customer
support and high moderation standards enabling the safest place for
buyers and sellers," Casarin said.
Among a range of new online features, the innovative OLX
platform also offers mobile apps for a wide range of smartphones including Android, Nokia, BlackBerry and iPhone, together with a mobile
site for non-smartphone users.
Naspers made the strategic investment in OLX in August 2010.