Shoprite Set To Leave Nigeria After 15 Years, Nigerians React
Shoprite is exiting Nigeria after 15 years of being a part of Africa’s most populated country.
The South African based retailer has reportedly begun the formal process of considering the potential sale of all or majority stake in its supermarkets in Nigeria.
The development was made known in a trading statement released on Monday, August 3, 2020.
South African retailers have struggled in the Nigerian market for years and recentlyMr Price has exited the market after Woolworths did the same six years ago.
In the statement released, Shoprite revealed that the results for the year do not reflect any of their operations in Nigeria as it will be classified as a discontinued operation.
Due to the COVID-19 lockdown, customer visits to the retailer dropped by 7.4% as the average basket spend increased by 18.4%.
Twitter users have reacted to the news, with majority of them lamenting the implications of such a move.