The exit of ShopRite from Nigeria seems very unlikely after the company just opened up its doors to investors in the country. But the news of them leaving made the news recently anyway and it was totally a misunderstanding. ShopRite has now said that they have no plans to leave Nigeria.
ShopRite is a $30billion worth of investment and can’t just up and leave Nigeria executives told Vanguard.
However, the misunderstanding originated from an announcement by Shoprite Holdings Limited. In the announcement, it said, “The Board has decided to initiate a formal process to consider the potential sale of all, or a majority stake, in Retail Supermarkets Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Shoprite International Limited”.
“As such, Retail Supermarkets Nigeria Limited may be classified as a discontinued operation when Shoprite reports its results for the year. Any further updates will be provided to the market at the appropriate time.”
No part of the document said the ShopRite will leave Nigeria. It only explains that its operation outside South Africa is struggling. A report of its operational and voluntary trading update for the year ended on June 28, 2020, shows that aside from in Nigeria all its international operation contributed 11.6 per cent to the group sales. South African operations contributed 78 per cent of the overall sales.
The exits of some South African owned retailer shops from Nigeria has had a large effect on the retailer. Aside from that, the lockdown obstructed customers from visiting which resulted in a 7.4 per cent decline. However, this seemed to have pushed the average basket expenditure up to 18.4 per cent.
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