ShopRite Nigeria has debunked the story making the rounds that it intends to close shop in Nigeria. According to the Country Director for Chastex Consult, Ini Archibong, in a telephone conversation with Vanguard, said: “Shoprite is not leaving Nigeria.
According to him, an internal memo dated July 31st was circulated amongst staff of the organisation informing them of the planned change, And as a result, an exit plan is far from the true picture.
“We have only just opened to Nigerian investors which we have also been talking to just before now. We are not leaving, who leaves over a $30billion investment and close shop? It doesn’t sound right.
The reports have been circulating that the retail outlet has started a formal process to consider the potential sale of all or a majority of stake in its supermarkets in Nigeria.
‘’There is no truth in that report. We only gave this opportunity to Nigeria investors to come in and also help drive our expansion plan in Nigeria. So we are not leaving. So there should be no panic at all.’’
The report said the retailer had struggled in the Nigeria market after some South African owned retailer shops exited the Nigeria market.
The report further stated that Shoprite results for the year do not reflect any of their operations in Nigeria as it will be classified as a discontinued operation. It also said international markets excluding Nigeria contributed 11.6 per cent to the group sales and reported 1.4 per cent decline in sales from 2018.
The report also said South African operations contributed 78 per cent of the overall sales and saw 8.7 per cent rise for the years. And that as a result of the lockdown, customers’ visits declined by 7.4 per cent but the average basket spends increased by 18.4 per cent.
Source: Vanguard News
