CROSS-BORDER
Tough trading climate for Shoprite in rest of Africa
The South African retail giant was hurt by sharp devaluations in some African currencies, as well as a recession in Angola
Shoprite’s African operations hit a speed bump as a recession in Angola and sharp devaluations in some of the continent’s currencies dragged down its cross-border revenue. The 17.24% fall in non-SA revenue for the quarter to end-December is a setback for the group, which has long seen its expansion into the rest of Africa as a major driver for its growth. Under former CEO Whitey Basson, Shoprite has built a retail empire that sees it operate 308 stores in 14 countries across the continent. For a long time its cross-border operations have been the group’s biggest growth driver, but recently it has seen its rest of Africa operation come under intense pressure. News that revenue was down double digits in its latest quarterly results followed the group reporting a 12% sales drop to R21.4bn for its African operations in the year to end-July. The quarterly drop in sales should be seen as part of the risk that comes with doing business on the continent, said Sasfin Bank senior equity analy...
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