Headlines: South Africa’s Retailers Eye Bigger Chunk of Nigerian Market

This Day Live - South African retailers are defying the recent not-so-encouraging economic performance indicators from Nigeria to increase their stake in the country. The National Bureau of Statistics had last week put the inflation rate at 12.6 per cent for January, and warned over the rising level of poverty in Nigeria.

However, South African retailer Massmart said at the weekend that it plans to expand its business in Nigeria in what economic watchers attributed to the population advantage offered by the country and the ongoing innovation by the financial authorities to promote the use of payment cards for transactions.

The company, Africa's second-biggest retailer and 21 per cent owned by the US group, Walmart, which currently has two stores in Nigeria with a third under construction, says it is planning to raise the number of its stores to 20.

According to its chief executive, Grant Pattison, Massmart is ready to explore the potential in some cities. “We have identified five or six cities in Nigeria and we see the potential of between 10 and 20 Game stores.

“By all simple metrics, Nigeria has the potential to be larger than South Africa, but it has some way to go in terms of infrastructure and political stability,” Pattison was quoted by Reuters as saying, at the weekend...Read More