Shoprite, once a dominant force in Nigeria’s retail supermarket segment, is facing significant challenges four years after its former South African owner exited the Nigerian market.
The company has shut down stores in Ilorin and Ibadan, with several other outlets across the country grappling with virtually empty shelves.
As of the time of filing this report, Shoprite stores in Ilorin and Ibadan have been shut down while checks by Daily Trust at most of their retail outlets that are still open across the country showed virtually scanty shelves.
Shoprite in Nigeria
Since 2005 when the first Shoprite store opened in Lagos, it has become a household name in the retail supermarket segment, as it expanded to eight states including the federal capital territory with no fewer than 25 stores.
Shoprite is a subsidiary of Shoprite Holdings, which is the parent company of the Shoprite brand, a South African company with headquarters in Brackenfell, Cape Town, South Africa.
Its inroad into Nigeria has popularised the retail supermarket business, employing over 2000 directly and supporting other local businesses especially the farmers through which some of its items are sourced.
However, supply chain challenges, inflationary pressures, among others, have hit the business segment, resulting in huge financial losses.
The company therefore decided to focus on its South African market while transitioning from ownership to franchise business model.
Already it has shut down operations in many African countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, among others.
After 16 years of operation in Nigeria, the largest retail company sold its Nigerian operations to a company owned by a group of local investors.
The company blamed the decision to exit Nigerian operations on unfavourable market conditions.
In 2020, the then Chief Executive Officer, Pieter Engelbrecht said, “We are at the approval stage in terms of the sale of our Nigeria supermarket operation.
“From here, our capital allocated to the region remains at a minimum and we continue to manage costs as best as we can.”
