Nigerian-founded startup Jiji has acquired Bikroy, the largest online classifieds marketplace in Bangladesh, marking a rare example of an African technology company expanding into Asia through acquisition.
The deal is Jiji’s first major expansion outside Africa and comes slightly more than a year after the company entered the Bangladeshi market to compete directly with Bikroy.
Jiji Chief Executive Officer Anton Volianskyi did not reveal the financial value of the acquisition but said the transaction was funded through internal company resources and support from shareholders.
African Tech Firms Expanding Beyond the Continent
The acquisition highlights a growing shift in Africa’s technology industry. For years, most African startups focused mainly on expanding into neighbouring African markets. Jiji’s move into South Asia shows that some African tech companies are now confident enough to export business models developed in countries such as Nigeria and Kenya into other emerging markets around the world.
Founded in 2014, Jiji has become one of Africa’s biggest online classifieds platforms. The company operates in several African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia.
According to the company, its platforms now attract more than 90 million users each year and process around $70 billion in annual gross merchandise value.
Growth Through Competition and Acquisitions
The Bangladesh deal follows a strategy Jiji has used repeatedly over the last six years. The company typically enters a market independently, competes with established players, and later acquires rivals to strengthen its position.
In 2019, Jiji acquired the African operations of OLX across several African countries after years of competition. In 2022, it also bought Tonaton, a Ghanaian classifieds platform owned by Saltside Technologies.
Bikroy was also owned by Saltside, making it the second Saltside platform acquired by Jiji within four years.
“This is a deliberate strategy,” Volianskyi said. “We enter organically to test the market, build a strong position, and then decide whether continued competition or consolidation will help us grow faster.”
Why Bangladesh Matters
Jiji launched operations in Bangladesh in March 2025 after identifying similarities between the country and several African markets where it already operates.
Bangladesh has a large young population, rising smartphone adoption, growing internet access and a rapidly expanding e-commerce sector. The country currently has more than 130 million internet users, while industry estimates suggest its e-commerce market could grow beyond $12 billion within the next few years.
The expansion also places Jiji in more direct competition with Daraz, the Alibaba-backed e-commerce company operating across South Asia. The company will also face increasing pressure from Chinese marketplaces such as Temu, which has been expanding aggressively across emerging markets.
For Jiji, Bangladesh offers a rare opportunity to scale quickly in a large digital marketplace outside Africa.
Bikroy Brand to Remain
Jiji said Bikroy will continue operating under its existing brand instead of being renamed.
“That kind of brand recognition and market leadership takes more than a decade to build,” Volianskyi explained.
Founded in 2012, Bikroy is one of Bangladesh’s most recognised online marketplaces, especially for property, vehicle and electronics listings. The platform has recorded more than 10 million app downloads and attracts around three million users every month.
Jiji plans to move Bikroy onto its own technology infrastructure while introducing advertising tools and seller services already used across its African platforms. The company also plans to increase marketing investment in Bangladesh to support future growth.
The acquisition reflects a wider change in global technology markets, where startups from emerging economies are no longer only protecting local markets from foreign competitors but are increasingly expanding internationally themselves.
For Africa’s startup ecosystem, Jiji’s move into Asia could become an important test of whether technology businesses built in Africa’s challenging markets can successfully compete on a global stage.
