South Africa’s grocery retailer, ShopRite, is leaving Nigeria, 15 years after it opened a shop in the West African country.
Shoprite opened its first store in Lagos in December 2005.
In a trading update filed at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Monday morning, the retail giant said it was planning to discontinue its operations in Nigeria.
International supermarkets (excluding Nigeria) contributed 11.6 per cent to group sales and reported 1.4 per cent decline in sales from 2018.
South African operations contributed 78 per cent of overall sales and saw 8.7 per cent rise for the year.
The company said it had been approached by potential investors willing to take over its Nigerian operations.
It said it was considering an outright sale of its operation or selling a majority stake in its Nigerian subsidiary.
“Following approaches from various potential investors, and in line with our re-evaluation of the Group’s operating model in Nigeria, the Board has decided to initiate a formal process to consider the potential sale of all, or a majority stake, in Retail Supermarkets Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Shoprite International Limited.
“As such, Retail Supermarkets Nigeria Limited may be classified as a discontinued operation when Shoprite reports its results for the year. Any further updates will be provided to the market at the appropriate time,” part of the update read