North African Portal Mubawab Gets New Shareholder as Dubizzle Group Divests

Mubawab, the leading property vertical in both Morocco and Tunisia according to Similarweb, has a new majority shareholder and parent company.

An article posted on LinkedIn yesterday (May 8th) says that Mubawab is "embarking on an ambitious technological renewal led by its new parent company". The company in question is named as Africa Property Portals, which has a one-page website but no LinkedIn account and little information on who is behind it.

The company is described as "dedicated to promoting next-generation real estate portals in Africa" with apparent plans for a "pan-African vision" implying further investment in regional portals.

The social media announcement went on to say that under new direction, Mubawab would have a stronger focus on tech and particularly on AI. Several AI-driven features, including automated listing management, price estimates and a recommendation engine have reportedly already been rolled out with more to come.

"Artificial intelligence is not a fad for us, it is a concrete lever for the digitalization of agencies and developers, in a market context that is more demanding and more digital than ever," said Abderra El Haitout, CTO of the two portals.

In 2018 UAE-based online marketplace operator Dubizzle Group (formerly EMPG) bought 51% of Mubawab and in 2021 announced a $10M investment into the portal. In January 2024 the company underwent a leadership reshuffle as Founder Kevin Gormand appointed himself Chairman of the Group with Zineb Bouayad taking charge in Morocco and Anis Gharbie overseeing Tunisian operations.

Dubizzle Group for its part has not confirmed its divestment from Mubawab but, given the tone of the LinkedIn article and the absence of Mubawab on the Emirati Group's corporate website, it seems likely.

In Morocco, Mubawab competes with the FDV-owned horizontal classifieds site Avito and in Tunisia it competes with Tayara, another horizontal platform owned by FDV.

Online Marketplaces has reached out to both Mubawab and Dubizzle Group for comment and will update this article accordingly.