French chains find market in Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast is the second-biggest promising retail centre in Africa behind Kenya
Battered minibus taxis snake the perimeter of Ivory Coast's latest shopping hot spot, a brand-new mall in a sprawling Abidjan suburb that shows how grocers like France's Carrefour are turning their attention to lower-income African customers. The parking lot reserved for car owners lies empty, contrasting with the throng of shoppers inside the $30m (R434m) Cosmos Mall, which opened in October. They include Nafua Karamoko, a 30-year-old teacher who has recently converted to the convenience of supermarkets from informal marketplaces. "It's clean, well-stocked and the prices don't differ much from the local market where I normally do my shopping," said Karamoko, filling her cart with Carrefour's cooking oil, rice and frozen chicken. Up for grabs for the likes of the French chain is a market with a formal retail penetration of 35%, meaning just over a third of shopping is done in stores as opposed to marketplaces. That makes Ivory Coast the second-biggest promising retail centre in Afri...
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