Nigeria’s online real estate firm ToLet.com.ng has acquired Jumia House Nigeria, an ecommerce property portal that, prior to this acquisition, was owned by Jumia. The platform has taken over the portal in conjunction with Frontier Digital Ventures.
The acquisition’s price has not been revealed so far. However, it is said that ToLet and Jumia House will combine the two under a PropertyPro.ng moniker.
ToLet has expanded its turf in the West African state, a feat it has achieved with a solid backing from its top investor, Frontier, which, has been on an investment spree especially Africa. At the moment, ToLet has around 60,000 listings on its site, while Jumia House has 22,000.
The platform was founded in 2013 by Fikayo Ogundipe who serves as CEO, as well as Seyi Ayeni, Suleiman Balogun (CBO) and Dapo Eludire. At its inception, is operated as a real estate agency, but pivoted to become a property classifieds platform in early 2017.
“The acquisition of Jumia House Nigeria has placed us in prime position to better serve the growing real estate market in the country. Our combined businesses, ToLet and Jumia House Nigeria, have the scale and the resources to transform the online property sector for the benefit of property developers, real estate agents and property seekers alike. As we transition to PropertyPro, consolidating listings from ToLet and Jumia House Nigeria, there is a brilliant opportunity to ensure Nigeria’s fluid and vibrant property market is underpinned by a robust, innovative technology. which PropertyPro.ng promises to offer,” says CEO Fikayo Ogundipe.
“Today’s announcement signifies a maturing in the online property classifieds market for Africa. We are now working with an entire generation who are now accustomed to heading online as a first port of call for rental or purchase of properties. We are on a steep growth trajectory, and are now in the very best position, with this acquisition, to deliver a world class property search service. We want PropertyPro.ng to be the first website Nigerians think of when they are looking to research, buy or rent a property, On the other hand, Agents on our platform will now be to reach more potential buyers, investors and tenants than any other portal in the country,” adds Mr. Suleiman Balogun.
The integration of the two platforms is already underway, and the final product will include search features. Also, PpropertyPro.ng will have an Android app.
Owing to the state’s population and economy, Nigeria’s real estate market has gained massive leaps in the past decade or so. The same trend is expected to remain, with an average growth rate of 5.39 percent between 2017-2020.
