Free classifieds website for users to sell and buy just about anything in over 50 countries has launched in several African countries and other emerging markets to help everyone sell or buy online with ease.

Developed by Yalwa, a German business directory, Locanto provides local classified sites worldwide allowing users to sell something, find a job or offer an apartment for rent online.

Now available in Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Morocco, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana, Locanto is also available in 50 other countries around the world apart from Europe where it was originally founded in 2006. Later the same year, the site expanded to US and then into all major English-speaking countries. Its now available in over 50 countries around the world.

Why Locanto might be a competition to Junkmail, Gumtree, OLX, TradeStable, Tonaton and others is because Locanto says it’s ads will always be cost and spam free but every other classifieds says so, and after some traction starts to charge commercial users.

The firm says posting on its site is as easy as posting ads to a local newspaper and the ad remains live for 60 days. It’s available as a web platform, an iPhone app and as an Android app on the Google Play Store.

The apps just like Locanto’s web version allow one to search items, post ads, contact users, upload their ads and pictures quickly, communicate anonymously with the integrated messaging system, edit their ads and simply stay in touch with the marketplace for best offers.

For it to be made known, Locanto might need a huge digital advertising budget to pop up everywhere online if it has to have significant visitors to the site. At the moment, Naspers is hiring more and advertising allover to further push OLX to make it a household name.

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