Shoprite, the biggest grocery retailer in Africa, is disinvesting from Nigeria, after fifteen years in the West African state.
In a trading update released yesterday the company said it had started the process which would lead to the sale of all or a majority of its stake in its Nigerian supermarkets.
Shoprite is the third major South African retailer to pull out of Nigeria, following Mr Price and Woolworths.
The company’s trading update (which covered the past year, up to the end of June) showed that despite the Covid-19 pandemic the company’s sales had risen by 6.4%.
The statement said: ‘SA Covid-19 lockdown regulations implemented from March 27 restricted trade in several categories within our supermarket business and as such, affected the business differently at different times. However, across the board, our Checkers, Checkers Hyper, Shoprite and Usave brands performed admirably in what can only be described as incredibly difficult conditions for our employees and customers.’
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