The owners of Shoprite are putting plans in place to exit Nigeria. The announcement is coming at the heels of a bad economy, poor purchasing power worsened by the Corona Virus Pandemic.
After 15 years of operating the most populous country in Africa, the South African retail chain, announced in a statement that it has been approached by potential investors willing to take over its Nigerian operations. It said it considering an outright sale of its operation or selling a majority stake in its Nigerian subsidiary.
“As such, Retail Supermarkets Nigeria Limited may be classified as a discontinued operation,” ShopRite said in a statement on Monday.
International supermarkets (excluding Nigeria) contributed 11.6% to group sales and reported 1.4% decline in sales from 2018. South African operations contributed 78% of overall sales and saw 8.7% rise for the year.
In April the supermarket announced it lost 8.1% of its sales in constant currency terms at the end of the second half (H2) of 2019 due to the September xenophobic attacks.
In September, Shoprite stores in Nigeria were vandalised and looted following an alleged xenophobic attack in South Africa, targeting Nigerians.
Owing to fears of further attacks several Shoprite stores across Lagos were sealed and guarded by police.
In the report released in April, the parent company stated that the impact of the store closures and drop in customer count resulted in a difficult half for the company.
Shoprite said the subsequent reduction in customer count during and after the crisis implies that some customers of the supermarkets in Nigeria boycotted the brand.
