South Africa’s retail company, ShopRite, has announced a formal ongoing process to pull out of Nigeria.
Shoprite Holdings Limited made this known on Monday while giving its operational and voluntary trading update for the year ended on June 28, 2020.
The company disclosed that there was a 6.4 per cent increase (R156.9billion) in total sales of merchandise for the outgoing year despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but intended to discontinue its service in Nigeria ‘following approaches from various potential investors, and in line with our re-evaluation of the group’s operating model in Nigeria’.
The report 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.”
Shoprite opened its first store in Nigeria in December 2005 and currently has a total of 26 stores across eight states including Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The company said it employed more than 2,000 people in Nigeria, of which 99 per cent of them are Nigerians.