African classifieds group Ringier One Africa Media (ROAM) commences operations
On Monday, Ringier Africa and One Africa Media successfully completed their merger to form Ringier One Africa Media (ROAM), the leading group in the classifieds portal sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. Clemens Weitz, formerly COO of Ringier Africa Classifieds, has been appointed CEO of Ringier One Africa Media.
ROAM's portfolio includes vertical classifieds portals for cars, jobs and property as well as general classifieds portals where a wide variety of products can be sold and purchased by both businesses and individuals. Under the ROAM umbrella are the One Africa Media vertical classifieds companies Jobberman, BrighterMonday, Cheki, BuyRentKenya and Private Property Nigeria as well as the general classifieds portals Expat-Dakar, ZoomTanzania, PigiaMe, Qefira and Ringier Africa's real estate portal MaMaison. It is also intended that new partners such as Mediatiz in Mauritius and Classifieds.co.zw and Property.co.zw will join ROAM.
On November 13, 2017, the merger of the two groups will become official and Ringier One Africa Media will commence operations, Ringier announced on Monday morning. The different platforms will now benefit from synergies between the individual companies, a better exchange of know-how and shared technology. They will be managed by the local teams in the nine countries where ROAM is present. These countries are Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and Ethiopia. The technology and product development teams are based in Cape Town and Mauritius.
Robin Lingg, CEO Ringier Africa and Asia: "Together with our partners and major shareholders of One Africa Media, Tiger Global Management and SEEK, the leading global marketplace operator in the recruitment services sector, we will make ROAM the most innovative, comprehensive and successful classifieds company in sub-Saharan Africa. With our strong local brands, we enjoy the trust of users and develop new solutions that are perfectly tailored to the needs of African users. Clemens Weitz has been appointed CEO of Ringier One Africa Media and I look forward to working with him in the future. Clemens has been working for us in Africa since 2014 and has extensive experience in this area."
Clemens Weitz, the new CEO of Ringier One Africa Media, explains: "We are privileged to be able to contribute to the positive upheavals in our markets in Africa through digital solutions. Many markets are still highly opaque, informal and fragmented. Buyers are usually overwhelmed by incomplete or asymmetric information and job seekers are often deceived by fake companies. Our goal is to empower Africans through transparency and transform markets through technology. We are already reaching millions of users every month. The growth potential is huge, as the number of smartphones is expected to increase fivefold by 2025. We support our users with important events in their lives, such as finding their first apartment or a new job or buying a car. And since many of the challenges they face are not comparable to those in the rest of the world, we do not simply copy models that have proven successful in more developed markets, but develop approaches that best meet local requirements. We are grateful that with Ringier, Tiger Global and SEEK, we have experienced strategic partners on board who complement and support our local perspective with their international orientation and experience. This merger is a very important milestone for us, from which not only ROAM, but also our users and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will benefit significantly, for example through greater reach or access to a new product range."
