Nigerian-founded classifieds platform Jiji has acquired Bikroy, Bangladesh’s largest online classifieds marketplace, in a deal that signals a rare and important shift in African tech: expansion beyond the continent into a major Asian market.
The transaction marks Jiji’s first acquisition outside Africa and gives the company immediate control of one of South Asia’s most established digital marketplaces. Jiji had entered Bangladesh just over a year ago as a direct competitor to Bikroy, but has now moved from challenger to market leader through acquisition.
The deal value has not been disclosed. Jiji CEO Anton Volianskyi said the company used internal resources and shareholder support to complete the acquisition, pointing to a growth strategy that relies less on public fundraising headlines and more on disciplined market consolidation.
The acquisition also repeats a playbook Jiji has used before. In Ghana, the company competed with Tonaton before acquiring the platform from Sweden-based Saltside Technologies in 2022. Bikroy also belonged to Saltside, making this the second time Jiji has bought one of the group’s classifieds assets after building pressure in the same market.
That strategy matters because classifieds platforms depend heavily on scale. Buyers go where sellers are active, and sellers go where buyers already search. By acquiring Bikroy, Jiji does not only gain a brand but also gains traffic, trust, listings, local recognition, and a user base in a country of about 170 million people.
For African tech, the move is significant. Most African startups expand within the continent first, then raise questions about whether their models can travel globally. Jiji is testing that assumption in reverse by taking an African-built marketplace strategy into South Asia, a region with strong mobile adoption, dense urban markets, and a large population of informal traders and small businesses.
Jiji already operates across several African markets, including Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, and the two Congos. Its expansion history includes the acquisition of OLX assets in Africa in 2019, Cars45 in 2021, and Tonaton in Ghana in 2022.
The Bangladesh move shows how African digital companies are beginning to see opportunity in other emerging markets with similar consumer behaviour. Classifieds thrive where trust, affordability, and informal commerce shape buying and selling patterns. In that sense, Jiji’s experience across African markets gives it a useful foundation for Bangladesh.
The acquisition also fits into a broader trend in global tech competition, where companies from emerging markets increasingly challenge older models built in Europe or North America. Instead of treating Africa as the final destination for imported platforms, Jiji is now exporting a model built and tested in African markets.
The immediate task will be integration. Jiji must decide how much of the Bikroy brand to retain, how to merge operations, and how to maintain trust among users who already know the platform. Early reports suggest the company plans to retain the Bikroy brand, a practical move in a market where local familiarity remains valuable. The acquisition does not make Jiji a global giant overnight. It does, however, mark a turning point in how African tech companies think about scale. The path is no longer limited to Lagos, Nairobi, Accra, or Johannesburg. It can now run through Dhaka.
That is what makes this deal important. Jiji has not simply bought a classifieds platform. It has made a statement that African tech companies can compete, consolidate, and expand into markets far beyond the continent.