Shoprite stores shut in Ibadan, Ilorin

This is not the best of times for popular retail company, Shoprite in Nigeria as the firm struggles to stay afloat four years after the exit of its former South African owner from Nigeria’s retail business

Amidst the growing competition in the retail supermarket segment, Shoprite is fast losing its dominance in the space with most of its outlets virtually empty and on the verge of shutting down.

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 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.

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