This whole idea of importing ideas from the West and thinking they will work here is not smart. OLX will also shut down like Kalahari and Mocality.

Nasper seats in SA and this "Africa" is just a backward US. You need to be innovative, understand us and then offer your goods and service in a way that is relevant to us.

Mocality can just close down. Hadn't made an impact and clearly shows that stupid model won't work. On to the next phase!

Me thinks its the FREEMIUM model which has been adapted by so many online businesses in kenya and nigeria .if they could only charge even if its 1000ksh per ad and capitalize on mobile money to transfers to facilitate payment this then would be a very different story.

http://www.moseskemibaro...to-close-down-in-kenya/

Even pesatalk collapsed last month.
Are we staring at a kind of 'internent business bubble burst'?

This is very sad indeed.

I believe that the problem was hiring the wrong people, not their model. The fremium model works and there is nothing like a Kenyan internet model. The internet is the internet.

The problem is those who are supposed to drive usage of such sites still employ old marketing methods to achieve their goals.

There was ONE question I keep on asking those who decide to do an online business, "have you ever seen amazon advertising with a billboard?"

Those going online to do online business had better get used to the fact that they need to market to those people who are already online.

Does that mean that Kenyan consumers who are online may not sustain your business? Probably.

So patience is key. Gaining authority during this period is the most important thing you can do. Trying to convert consumers who still don't believe Mpesa works, using billboards, tv advertising etc is bad business practise.

It was not a failure of the idea, but the failure of implementation.